Will of the Primes
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: What started out as any other day for Team Prime ended in disaster. Now new threats emerge, new powers, and new foes, all gunning for Earth and the galaxy itself, leaving Jack and the rest of Team Prime to prepare... for the coming darkness.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Blackest Night

It was a sunny day in Jasper Nevada, an air of peace and tranquility felt through the entirety of the town, not at all betraying the almost frantic air that it had felt over a month ago during a hideous series of freak storms and earthquakes the likes of which had never been seen in Nevada. But since said storms had passed, the people of the town had simply dismissed it as a freak weather incident.

All but four people knew the real truth behind the freak storms. They knew because they knew of the secret existence of the Autobots and Decepticons, sentient machines capable of transforming into vehicles engaged in a deadly war with each other that had lasted for thousands if not millions of years.

These four were kept under the protection of the Autobots from the Decepticons, who would attempt to hurt the four, due to their knowledge of the Autobots, and would attempt to retrieve whatever information on the Autobots that they might have had before killing them.

It was for this reason that one of said humans on his way to the Autobot base, located in an old missile silo, riding a custom blue street bike with pink highlights. Of course, this was no normal human, and his motorcycle was no normal motorcycle.

He was Jack Darby, secret teenage ally to the Autobots and honorary Prime to boot. He'd been given the great honor of keeping the key to Vector Sigma safe from harm, and was now the keeper of the key per the request of Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots.

The motorcycle was his partner and friend, Arcee, the SIC of the Autobots, and the only other Cybertronian femme on planet, not counting the Decepticon spider-bot Airachnid. The two had once had a rocky relationship, but time had allowed them to move past it, and the two were practically inseparable.

The pair was, at the moment, speeding down a long stretch of empty road toward the base, Jack wearing a silver helmet along with his almost standard grey and white long sleeve shirt combo, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers. School had just gotten out minutes ago, and he planned to meet his friends at Autobot HQ.

Arcee's engine purred as the two drove off the main street onto the dusty ground that encompassed the roads and began to quickly approach a large mesa that towered over the duo. They showed no sign of slowing, and in fact sped up towards the large wall of rock that grew ever closer.

A low boom echoed from the mesa, and two large doors covered in stone began to slowly slide open with a low groan, revealing a long concrete tunnel leading into the mesa. With a rev of her engine, Arcee and Jack rocketed into the tunnel and quickly emerged into the base.

The walls of the base towered over them, easily stretching close to two hundred feet above them, fluorescent lights illuminating the rocky interior of the base. To the right there was a large concrete platform with a terminal much too large for a human attached to it, but the red and white form of Ratchet could use comfortably, and an area with various human items, a couch, TV, and table, scattered about. A large elevator was connected to the wall, its concrete shaft leading up to the top of the mesa.

To the left was a mostly barren area except for a long tunnel with rings spaced between them at twenty foot intervals over a bridge that appeared to be made of glass. The Autobot insignia, a curved robotic face, was emblazoned proudly in the center floor of the base.

Arcee hit the brakes and came to a stop, letting Jack dismount and remove his helmet, revealing ebony hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. The teen ran a hand through his hair to clear up his helmet hair.

A sound of shifting metal emanated from Arcee and her motorcycle form moved and shifted to reveal a tall standing femme with blue armor on her chest, waist, forearms, and pedes. Her midsection was silver and her thighs and upper arms were black. Her faceplate was smooth and featureless except for her sapphire blue and violet optics. Her lips were a faint pink that almost melded with her silver faceplate.

The sound of footsteps sounded from the platform and the crazy form Miko appeared, "Glad you could finally join us Jack!" she called leaning over the yellow railing and grinning lazily at him.

Jack returned the grin "Took the scenic route to base Miko," he told her.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Whatever, still took your sweet time getting here,"

"Not everyone's in as big a rush to get from place to place as you are Miko," said Arcee, gesturing with a servo right as the remaining bots emerged from a large hallway.

"Ratchet," Optimus started, "Any Decepticon activity?" he asked. Optimus was the largest bot in base, standing over 30 feet tall, his large blue pedes echoing with each step as he walked. His upper body was a bright red, and he wore a blue helm with two fins on both sides and a small crest in the center of his forehead.

The medic shook his helm, "None that I can tell Optimus,"

Ratchets chassis was red and white with two red crests spreading out on either side of his helm before pointing up. He had boxy shoulder pads and his faceplate, like most other bots, was smooth and silver.

Bulkhead laughed, his deep voice booming, "Cons are too afraid to try anything now that we got Optimus back!"

Bulkhead was a thick bot with military green armor and thick black shoulder pads. His pedes were nearly as wide as his thick midsection, with two massive black wheels set in the heels. He was the only bot with a large jaw that resembled the bucket on a tractor.

Jack walked up the platform and took a position next to Miko while the bots talked, "Where's Raf?" he asked her.

Miko giggled, "Had to go on a small family trip over the weekend, it's just you and me Jack-O!"

"Great," he groaned, "Heavy metal bonanza all weekend,"

Miko punched him in the arm, inciting a slight yelp of pain from him, "You bet, perfect way to spend the weekend, I've got dune bashing with Bulkhead all planned out!" she said excitedly.

"It'll have to wait though Miko," Bulkhead said suddenly, regaining their attention.

The girl sagged her shoulders, "Aw, why?" she whined.

"We've just detected a Cybertronian relic on Earth, though which one is anyone's guess," Ratchet said.

Jack's hand sub-consciously went to his pocket where he kept the Key to Vector Sigma with him at all times. After he'd used it to restore Optimus Prime's memories, the Prime had given it back to him, reasoning that it would be safer in his hands then in any Autobots servos.

Since then, the teen hadn't let the key out of his sight, always keeping it close on his person. He promised Optimus that he'd keep it safe, and he intended to keep that promise, no matter the cost.

"So for now," Optimus said, "Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and I will head to the relics location. Ratchet, you man the ground bridge,"

The medic nodded and began typing in the coordinates of the relic. He pulled on a lever, and a loud noise emanated from the tunnel. Each ring suddenly became illuminated and a sea of green and white flowed forward into a vortex of color, the noise echoing the sound of the sea.

"Autobots," Optimus ordered, "Rollout!"

A shift of metal sounded through the base, and four vehicles stood in place of the Autobots. Jack smiled, "No matter how many times I see it, it still blows my mind, right Miko?"

No answer.

Jack turned to see the girl was gone, "Miko?" he asked looking around.

He saw her run behind the bots as their engines sounds. Jack let out a groan, "She'll never learn, will she?" he asked no one in particular.

Not wasting anytime, Jack ran down the stairs after Miko as the bots rolled through the bridge. He'd gone through this before, they'd survived it once, and they'd survive it now. After all, what was the worst that could happen…?

_Asteroid Belt, the Solar System…_

A tiny green light, no more than a spec when compared to the grand size of space, flew through its inky blackness at a speed uncommon for an object its size. No ship that size could move that fast, for it was not a ship, but a humanoid figure, a male one to be precise.

He was of standard height, about six feet, and was well built with corded muscle easily distinguishable on his form. He wasn't human though, his skin was a pale shade of violet, and he lacked any hair. But his most unique feature was the uniform he wore. He wore a black body suit, the upper half covered in a downwards facing green triangle. Green arm guards adorned his forearms, and a pair of green boots that seemed to meld into his suit.

The last feature on his suit was a white circle adorned on his chest. Inside the circle was another green circle with two green beveled lines on either end, shaped almost like a lantern.

This figure shot through the darkness of space, the look on his face suggesting he was on a mission of importance, when he suddenly came to a stop, floating in place, a green aura surrounding his form.

The male lifted his fist and looked at the emerald green ring on his middle finger and spoke, "Contact Thaal Sinestro, Sector 1417," he ordered.

A green light blinked once on the ring, and a holographic form of a male with short hair, pointed ears, and purple orange skin appeared hovering an inch above the ring, his colors slightly muted and green.

He nodded his head in greetings, "Abin Sur, it's good to hear from you friend, how goes your search for the illusive lantern killers?" he asked.

Abin frowned, "I fear that I have had little luck in that endeavor Sinestro. However I have stumbled upon something far more interesting," he told him.

Sinestro raised a brow, "Oh? And what could that be?"

"I seem to have stumbled upon an unmapped solar system," Sinestro looked at Abin Sur surprised.

"You're sure of this?" He asked, "An unmapped solar system is unheard of in any sector, only in the frontier zone,"

Abin nodded, "I am," he said, "I came across when my last lead started to go dry, and my ring has detected signs of radio transmissions emanating from the planet. I intend to investigate it,"

Sinestro placed his chin in his hand, rubbing it thoughtfully, "I see, make sure to be cautious my friend, there is no telling what beings could inhabit this system,"

"I'll keep that in mind Sinestro, report my findings to the council," he ordered.

"I will, Sinestro out," the hologram flickered out and Abin Sur lowered his hand. It was time to investigate this world.

His aura grew brighter, and he shot towards the little blue sphere that rested two planets away from the yellow sun that made the center of the system. It took only a short time before he approached the planet and its moon, his ring detecting several manmade objects orbiting the planet.

Abin stopped again, "Ring, begin scanning the planet's information network," he ordered.

There was a blink of acknowledgement and Abin began weaving his way through the information net of the planet. He quickly learned that the planets inhabitants were called humans, and were just taking their first tentative steps off planet. He learned their languages, their customs, and then he stumbled upon an interesting piece of data.

Sentient machines called Cybertronians waging a secret war on the planet, capable of changing their shapes to match any vehicle they came across. How the Corps had never encountered this race, how the Guardians knew nothing of them astounded him.

"I need to get to Oa, tell the Guardians of this," he said to himself.

"You're not going anywhere Green Lantern!" a high strung voice declared.

Abin Sur whirled around to see something he hadn't expected. Three figures floated behind him, lead by an alien whose main body was composed of a face with thick fang like teeth and pure white eyes. Its skin was pale and bore resemblance to dead flesh, covered in thick wrinkles.

Its body was covered in a red uniform, with the arms and legs covered in black sleeves with red gloves and boots. A black and red symbol was emblazoned on its forehead. Two lines ran vertical up the symbol with a circle in the center of it.

The two behind him, for he seemed male, were dressed in full black and red body armor, wielding silver staffs with red energy swirling around one end.

"Who are you?" Abin demanded.

The floating head laughed, "Zillius Zox, loyal servant to Atrocitus of the Red Lanterns!"

Abin Sur regarded him suspiciously, "There are no Red Lanterns, you are mistaken,"

Zillius laughed again, "That's what the last few lanterns said too before we ripped their hearts out!"

Abins eyes widened, "You're the Lantern killers!"

"Yes, we are," Zillius admitted happily, "And now we get to add the great Abin Sur to that list!"

Zox attacked Abin Sur before he could respond, blasting a tendril of thick red energy at the lantern. Abin raised an emerald shield with his ring, blocking the attack. To his horror, the shield began to crack, the red energy eating through it with ease.

Zox turned to the two behind him, "Attack you imbeciles! Attack!"

The two armored goons raised their staffs at Abins shield and added their fire to his. The Lantern grit his teeth and focused, his hands tightening. With a loud yell, the shield slammed forward knocking the three backwards and cart wheeling through space.

Zox shook his large head, a rather humorous gesture given his whole body was a head, before snarling angrily at the Lantern, "Kill him now!" he screeched.

The two soldiers quickly regained their senses and attacked Abin Sur. The Lantern, realizing he was outnumbered and outmatched, shot off away from Earth towards their moon. He needed to warn the guardians about this potential threat.

He didn't get far when a blast of red energy hit his back, causing him to yell out in pain and plummet to the moon, his body just barely caught in its gravitational field. Abin turned on his back and stopped falling, instead floating in place once again.

The two Reds attacked him, their staffs firing bolts of red energy at him. Abin made certain to dodge each one, and shot at the first red, knocking it away. The other had managed to get to close for his ranged attacks, and swung his staff at Abin.

The lantern blocked the blow with a sword construct, the two struggling against each other briefly, moving back and forth through space. Abin shoved the red away, and grabbed the edge of his staff, cutting through it with his blade as he shot back. The red looked at his now shortened staff before red energy began to coalesce where the end had once been.

"Drop the weapon," Abin ordered, "it's going to-" his warning was too late, as a large red explosion engulfed the red for a brief moment.

Abin Sur felt a brief stir of regret at the loss of life. Lanterns were forbidden to kill, and the death of any criminal, whether it was by his hand or indirect influence, the lantern felt it had been unwarranted

His sorrow was quickly replaced by shock as the cloud dissipated in the vacuum, revealing the Red. Its entire right arm was gone, with robotic components poking out of where the limb used to be. The two reds weren't living beings, they were machines.

Abin looked at the red and its comrade who was floating next to it, and his gaze hardened. Moving fast, he materialized a large buzz saw, and cut into the damaged red lantern robot. Sparks and chips of metal went flying as the green construct cleaved it in two, both halves floating off in opposite directions.

The remaining machine attacked him, dematerializing the construct. Abin formed a shield as it slammed its staff down with a burst of red energy. The shield shattered and sent Abin flying backwards. He quickly righted himself and materialized an alien pistol in his hands, holding it at his side as the machine barreled towards him firing red blasts.

The lantern scowled, and with a quick flick of his wrist, a green bolt of energy slammed into the machines head, knocking it clean off. It stuttered once before its body drifted in the opposite direction of its now disembodied head.

Abin let out a grateful sigh and let the pistol fade away. With those two gone he could return to Oa and warn the Corps. Turning towards the general direction of the planet, he prepared to take off, when a bolt of red energy slammed into him from the side.

"Where do you think you're going Green Lantern!?" Zox demanded as he hovered towards the lantern, his ring glowing furiously red.

Abin winced as he felt his side, a nasty burn having formed there. That shouldn't have been possible, his shields were up. Horror dawned on Abin as he finally made the connection that the red energy really could eat through his constructs with ease.

He backed away from Zox, realizing the danger he represented, "Oh what's the matter Lantern? Afraid?" he mocked.

Abin ignored the Red Lanterns taunts and focused on ignoring the pain in his side that continued to grow worse. He looked back down at his side briefly and saw that the injury was growing worse; the red energy was eating at his side like some sort of fire.

He ignored it for now and addressed Zox, "A lantern never… feels fear. We overcome it,"

Zox snorted, "Whatever, you'll be dead soon enough anyways," he grinned exposing his disgusting fangs.

His large mouth opened wide and red plasma that looked sickeningly similar to blood, shot forth from his maw towards Abin Sur. Years of training took over and he managed to bring up a sphere shaped shield over his form as the red vomit coated the shield and began to eat its way through his vital protection.

Abin grit his teeth again and focused his mind on sustaining the shield, and repeated the oath to help calm himself, "In brightest day,"

A crack formed in the shield.

"In blackest…night,"

Another stretched out from the original.

"No evil… shall escape my sight,"

His arm shook as he fought to maintain the shield.

"Let those who worship evil's might…"

He clenched his eyes shut as the shield began to collapse.

"Beware my power,"

His eyes suddenly shot open.

"GREEN LANTERNS LIGHT!"

The shield exploded outward, sending the red goo everywhere, even towards Zox, who screamed bloody murder as a small portion of it burned his face, "You will pay for that Lantern. I'll make you-" he was cut off as a green energy blast slammed into him, sending the red lantern careening off into the darkness of space.

Abin heaved for breath, gripping his injury which felt as if a fire were raging within his wounds. He looked down and winced, the injury had worsened, the fire eating at his flesh was starting to die, but it was too late. His ribs were exposed, startling white, and he felt that whatever was eating away at him had made its way into his blood stream.

He was dying.

Abin formed a bubble around him and lay on it, letting out a groan of pain. He lifted his ring hand to his face and said, "I have been critically injured by a group labeling themselves as the red lanterns. I will not survive,"

He looked to Earth, "I am sending my ring… to find a… suitable… replacement," with that, the emerald ring slid off his finger and shot to Earth, leaving a faint green trail in its wake.

Abin did not doubt that it would find a wearer worthy of his ring. The Rings never made a mistake after all…

_Earth…_

"This was such a huge mistake!" Jack screamed at Miko as Knockout tried to crush them under pede.

At first, when the two had followed the bots through, Jack had managed to keep Miko out of trouble by having her hide behind a large boulder. The area had been strewn with various boulders lying in the tall grass of the area, with a large cliff off to the right side.

Of course, Miko had made the situation far worse when Bulkhead had taken a nasty blow from Knockout, temporarily offline. Miko had begun screaming bloody murder at the con, which gained his attention. And now the two were running from the con trying to avoid his pedes.

Jack stumbled as another pede nearly crushed him, "Miko, what were you thinking!?" He demanded.

The girl dodged out of the way of his servo before responding, "I was thinking that the prissy bot 9000 needed to have his ego deflated!"

Knockout straightened up, "I am not a prissy bot! How dare you!" he shouted indignantly.

His little rant allowed the two to put some distance between them. Jack saw a small hill up ahead and bolted for it, until he heard Miko let out a pained cry. He skid to a stop and turned to see that the girl had twisted her ankle, and was crawling away from Knockout, who'd resumed his slow walk after them.

"Well, looks like one fleshy is going to go squish today," the twisted doctor said with glee.

Jack looked to see if any of the bots where coming, and saw that though they were trying, there were too many Vehicons in their way for them to get there in time.

"Scrap!" he cursed, "Guess it's all on me,"

He looked down and saw a rock at his feet, and an idea struck him. Hefting the stone in his hand, he flung it as hard as he could at Knockout. He was aiming for his headlights… he hit his optic.

"YEEEOOOWW!" Knockout screeched, clutching the sensitive seeing device with a clawed servo.

Jack ran forward as the medic stumbled back and helped Miko up, supporting her with his shoulder, "Come on Miko, move it!" he ordered.

"I'm trying Jack," she said with worry, "But I think I broke my ankle!"

"Then this just got all the easier!" Knockout snarled.

Jack looked over his shoulder in time to see the medic's servo descending towards them. Acting on instinct, Jack shoved Miko forward out of danger. A loud sickening _CRUNCH _echoed through the battlefield, catching the attention of the bots and Vehicons, who all looked in time to see Jack's form, broken and limp, go flying off the edge of the cliff.

"JACK!"

Jack felt as if time slowed once he fell off the cliff. His entire right side felt numb, like it was just gone, which was silly. He saw his arm still attached, just… flopping at an odd angle. Still, the part of his body he could feel hurt like the pit, and every breath he took hurt. He'd probably punctured a lung from the impact.

Even if he weren't falling a few hundred feet to his inevitable death, the injuries from Knockouts blow would probably have killed him soon enough anyway. Jack laughed to himself silently, since actually laughing would have hurt too much. Despite the fact that he was going to die, he wasn't afraid.

He had lived a good, albeit short, life, and had few regrets. He'd helped the world in ways he'd have never imagined a few months ago and he'd met incredible people along the way too. His only regret was that he would be leaving all those he cared for behind. Hopefully his mom would be okay without him, she was strong, that much he knew.

Jack felt his eyes grow heavy as he fell, but could have sworn he saw a bright green light heading towards him. A bridge? Were the bots going to bridge him into base? No, that couldn't be done in the time it would take him to fall…. Could it?

Suddenly, Jack saw a translucent green light envelope him, and he stopped falling. Time sped back up, and suddenly the pain he felt was all so real, especially in his right shoulder area. He screamed out in pain, his vision going fuzzy and a sickening noise emanating from his body that sounded like gravel being shaken in a bag.

The teen lay back on his back, his breathing short and shallow as the green sphere flew up and away from the bots at a dizzyingly fast pace. He saw them making their way to the edge of the cliff, the cons gone, and he saw Arcee on her knees looking down. Then a cloud obscured his view. They were getting faster too.

The blue skies of Earth quickly faded and replaced with endless stars, the Earth quickly shrinking as he shot towards the moon, "Heh," he said weakly, "I'm in space… again,"

He let out a pained moan and began a series of coughs and hacks, blood seeping out the corner of his mouth, "Whatever saved me… was a little late," he said weakly. He tilted his head back ever so slightly to see the moon was fast approaching him.

_"Maybe the moon men are calling for me," _he thought, his mind becoming more confused and fuzzy.

The sphere began to suddenly slow, and Jack saw another green sphere with an occupant lying inside it. An _alien _occupant, not like the bots, this one looked to be organic like him, dressed in a black and green uniform. The two spheres united into one large one, and something fell from the top into the alien's outstretched hand.

All Jack could do in his dying state was slightly pull himself up into a sitting position. His breathing grew slightly easier, and he looked at the purple bald alien warily, noticing the gaping hole in his side and the trickle of blood trailing from his mouth.

"Y-your…name?" he asked, at least Jack thought it was a he.

Jack let out a weak cough, "J-Jack Darby,"

The alien nodded and held out the hand that held the object. Jack saw he held an emerald ring in his hand, with the same symbol carved into it as was on his chest. A faint glow emanated from within it.

"T-the ring… c-chose you," his hand shook weakly, before dropping the ring bouncing off the emerald sphere.

Jack ignored his pain for a brief moment and picked it off the ground, examining it. It felt smooth to the touch, like it was made of some sort of metal. He also felt a faint power emanate from it, pulsing gently in his hand. He brought it close to his chest and held it safely.

The alien continued, his body shaking, "I-it… is a gr-great honor… a-and p-power…us-use it well," his eyes closed weakly as he finished and his suit disappeared in a flash of green light, leaving him in a purple jumpsuit.

Jack realized he'd just seen someone died, and his heart went out for the unknown alien. He'd died with a total stranger, who wasn't far behind him. He looked at the ring he held in his hands and back at the alien.

His hands shaking, Jack slipped it onto his middle finger, his consciousness fading as he did. As his vision faded, the bubble lurched forward and started off into space…

_Earth…_

Arcee fell to her knees in the sandy coast, suppressing the urge to scream. For two hours they'd searched for Jack and for two hours they found nothing. No sign of his body at all. The femme looked to her left at the glimmering sea and felt her spark sink. If his body had managed to fallen into the ocean, odds were he had drowned out in the ocean.

Put simply, Jack was dead. No human could have survived the fall, and given the noise his body had made before he'd fallen off the edge, he'd probably been dead before then.

"Arcee," Optimus started he and the others walking up to her slowly.

The femme stood, her servos clenched, "Why did you follow us," she growled, directing her question at Miko, who was being carried in Bulkheads servos. Her ankle was only sprained it turned out, not broken.

"W-what do you-?"

Arcee whirled to face her, her faceplate the picture of utter rage, "WHY THE FRAG DID YOU FOLLOW US!?" she screamed.

Miko shrunk down, "I just-"

"JUST WHAT!?" Arcee demanded, stomping towards her, "Just wanted to tag along when you KNOW that what we do is dangerous, just to bring some sort of satisfaction to your dull little life!?"

Optimus placed a servo on the steaming femme's shoulder, "Arcee that is enough. Anger will not bring Jackson back," the Prime didn't even look at Miko.

Arcee straightened herself up and clenched her optics shut, "Fine, but you get to tell June,"

She turned and stomped away as the bridge opened the others following close behind. Optimus stood in place for a moment, closing his optics, "My fault,"

_Oa…_

"And you are certain that this was a new system that Abin Sur discovered?" Appa Ali Apsa, one of the many guardians of the universe, asked Sinestro, who stood before the guardians.

The Torugaran nodded, "I am, Abin Sur would not have contacted us unless he was certain. However, despite Salaak's best efforts," he motioned to the multi limbed lantern working at a portable terminal, "we have been unable to contact Abin Sur since,"

The guardians looked amongst each other, speaking to each other quietly before looking back at Sinestro. No words were said, so the Lantern continued, "I propose that I lead a small team of Lanterns to search for Abin Sur and to finally track down these lantern killers once and for all,"

"And this new system?" a guardian with a calm voice named Ganthet asked.

"We will map it out after this threat has been put down," Sinestro said, "Finding Abin Sur and the killers should be our main priority,"

Salaak looked up from his terminal, "That won't be necessary Sinestro," he said.

"You managed to make contact?"

Salaak shook his long head, "No, his ring signature just exited ultra warp in Oa's atmosphere, he's coming to us. Fast,"

"Is he slowing at all?" Sinestro asked.

"No, his velocity seems to be increasing. If it keeps up at its current rate, then Abin will…"

"Impact on the citadel," Sinestro finished. Without another word, a green aura surrounded him and he shot out of the citadel at a break neck pace.

He emerged into the glittering cityscape that covered the planet, the green lights of hundreds of lanterns flitting about from tower to tower. And one exceptionally bright one, plummeting straight towards the Guardians citadel.

"You detected it too?" Tomar-Re asked, flying next to Sinestro as the two lanterns sought to intercept their comrade.

"Salaak did, it's Abin Sur," Sinestro reported.

The Xudarian nodded and the two broke apart, flying towards their comrade and forming a large net with their rings. The green orb slammed into the net, pulling both lanterns towards the citadel as they struggled to slow its speed. Sinestro grit his teeth and pulled on his ring arm, slowing the orb until it came to a stop several feet above the landing platform that extended from the entrance of the citadel.

There was a light thud as the orb landed on the ground, and the energy from it evaporated, revealing its occupants. Sinestro and Tomar-Re landed next to the two, shock plastered onto their faces.

Tomar knelt next to Abin Sur, his ring casting a green light over him as he scanned him. The Ring beeped, "He's… he's dead Sinestro. I'm sorry,"

The Torugaran closed his eyes and bowed his head for a moment, when a low moan followed by a cough caught his attention. He turned to the other occupant, also lying on the floor.

Tomar walked up next to him, "What is that?" he asked.

"I don't recognize his species." Sinestro said as he knelt next to the young boy, for it was clearly a youth, perhaps in mid or early adolescence, and clearly male.

The strange alien had pale toned skin, and was built much like a Torugaran. He had short black hair and unlike the Torugaran, his ears were rounded, not pointed. Just by looking at the alien, it was clearly obvious that something was very wrong with the youth.

Sinestro scanned his body, and his eyes widened in shock, "Every bone on the right side of his body is either gravel or fractured, and one of his lungs is punctured. He's bleeding internally too; we need to get him to the med bay,"

Tomar nodded and formed a gurney under the alien, gently lifting him, "Then maybe we can learn what he is,"

The duo rushed to the infirmary, quickly handing the young alien off to the lanterns stationed there as doctors. The doctors took him and rushed him into an operating room; they busily got to work, hooking the alien up to various alien machines to get a full readout on his body's status.

"We have any idea what species this is?" One of the two, a being composed of crystal asked.

The other, a being with pale white skin and solid black skin, shook their head, "No idea, his genome doesn't match anything in the records, where dealing with a new species here,"

" That's not good, his heart rate is fading fast, not sure if that's a good thing," the crystal one reported.

"Quick," said another, "We need to operate or he won't be getting off the table,"

The staff moved to get to work, removing various pieces of technology from the aliens clothing before removing his shirts to get access at his chest. The crystal being removed the ring on his finger and set it with the rest of the various technology.

They were about to operate, when a low drone emanated from the heart rate monitor.

The doctors faces fell.

They'd been too late.

The pale skinned one moved to cover the aliens face with a pale sheet, "I'll call it, time of death-"

Suddenly, one of the devices on the tool table where the aliens equipment had been moved, an intricately assembled flat metal object began to glow intensely, lifting off the stand and floating over the alien. A beam of pure blue energy shot forth into the youth, causing his back to arch upwards , energy cascading over his form.

The doctors watched in shock and winced as the sound of cracking bones echoed in the operating room as his right side seemed to be pulling itself together. A flash of bright white light illuminated the operating room, and just as quickly as it had started, it died. The object fell onto the youths bare chest, which slowly started to rise and fall, smoother than when he'd been laid there. The heart rate monitor began to beep again.

The crystal being scanned his ring over the alien and his eyes widened, "Remarkable!"

"What?" the other asked, approaching cautiously.

"Not only have his bones been set, but they've been reinforced with some sort of metal I've never seen before," he replied.

He looked at his comrade, "Some of the bones are still fractured, but the underlying metal is holding them in place. If we add a cast to be safe, he'll be up and running in a week, maybe less,"

The two looked at each other, neither saying a word. The pale skinned lantern spoke first, "So… who wants to tell Sinestro?"

**A/N: So begins the start of Will of the Primes. So, as a first chapter, what did you guys think? Was it good, not good, bad? Please tell me in the reviews. If you have any questions or ideas make sure to PM me them and I'll answer them the best I can. Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Brightest Day

_Oa Medical Ward…_

"You're telling me that this device somehow managed to not only stabilize this alien, but reinforced his bone structure with a metal never before seen in Guardian space?" Sinestro demanded, arms crossed.

The two doctors looked to each other, and then looked back to Sinestro nodding. The lantern sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Is he at least awake now?" he asked.

"No, he is still in a coma as far as we can tell," the crystalline lantern known as Fracture said.

"Any idea when he'll be awake?"

"Near as we can tell," the pale skinned lantern, Talo, said, "He could wake up in a few minutes, or a few days, there's no way to be sure,"

Sinestro nodded and looked over at the sleeping youth, who was now dressed in a hospital gown. Compared to when he'd first landed, he looked down right peaceful now. The lantern looked to the device that lay near him, its intricate designs gleaming in the hospital lights.

The Torugaran walked over to the bed and picked up the device, "What about this?" he asked, turning to the two.

"Any idea what it is, or why it healed him?"

The two lanterns shrugged, "Our scans of the device have proven inconclusive, though we do know that it's made of the same material that reinforces the alien's bones," Fracture reported.

"Anything else?" Sinestro asked, examining the device further.

"Well… yes, one other thing," said Talo. Sinestro looked up from the device at him.

"And that would be?"

Talo raised his ring hand and a variety of emerald screens seemed to pop out of them. Thousands of letters of coding written in a language he'd never seen before scrolled across the screen at an astonishing pace. Try as he might, he couldn't translate a single character on the screens, they were moving too fast to decipher.

"Alright, I'll bite," he said, "What exactly am I looking at?"

"Near as we can tell," Fracture started, "Is that it's coding for data. The device stores thousands upon thousands of pieces of Exabyte's,"

Sinestros eyes widened, "You're sure? Even our rings cannot store that much data," the rings could store terabytes worth of data, but Exabyte's were beyond them. For a piece of technology as small as this to store that much data was an astounding feat of technology. He looked at the alien resting with new found worry. What other surprises did he have in store for them?

Fracture nodded, "Not only is the amount of data immense, but its heavily guarded under layers of firewalls. What you're seeing is the firewalls. We've yet to even begin to pierce the surface of what might lay within that device,"

Sinestro eyed the device in his hand and slowly set it back down next to the alien. He would tell the guardians about it, but he feared what they might do. They knew little of this alien, and if the guardians took what might be an important piece of technology from him, it would do little to earn his trust.

He looked back at the two doctors, "For now, keep that information to yourselves. If the boy chooses to tell the guardians, that's his choice,"

"Whose choice Sinestro?" the calm voice of Ganthet asked as he and guardian Sayd floated into the room.

Sinestro straightened slightly, "Nothing guardian, nothing of importance,"

If Ganthet was suspicious of Sinestro, he hid it well, as would make sense. Guardians were not meant to be affected by emotion, and were quite excellent at hiding their reactions.

"So how is the patient?" the guardian asked.

"Well," Talo started, looking to Sinestro, "he's stabilized. His internal bleeding has ceased, and his bones have been set back into place. We guess it'll be roughly a week before they're fully healed. We're not sure when he'll awake, but even if he were to awaken now, he'd be in no shape for questioning,"

"Why might that be?" Sayd asked.

"He was barely alive when he came through that Ultra-Warp conduit," Talo explained, "and although we've seen the effects of those things on Lanterns who think it's unnecessary to create a construct before opening one, I can say with certainty," Fracture coughed into his hand.

Talo rolled his eyes, "We can say with certainty that this boy's injuries did not occur during Ultra-Warp. This means he jumped to Ultra-Warp in this critically injured state. It's a miracle he survived the trip to Oa,"

"And the device that healed him?" Ganthet asked, his green eyes looking at said device.

_"So much for secrets," _thought Sinestro.

A single look from Sinestro told the two it was fine to relay what they'd learned from the guardians. Talo and Fracture explained everything to the two guardians. When they finished, Ganthet and Sayd had curious expressions on their faces.

"No contact with the lantern corps, or other alien life as far as we know, and yet they have a device as sophisticated as that," Ganthet said in wonder.

"I assume the guardians will want to examine the device?" Sinestro asked.

Ganthet let out a light chuckle, "No Sinestro, there is no need. When the boy awakens, he'll be able to answer any questions we might have,"

Ganthet turned to the two doctors, "Alert us to when the boy has awoken, the rest of the council is curious about him,"

The lanterns nodded and with that the guardians left. Sinestro walked up to them, "If he awakens, contact me before you contact the guardians," he ordered, and looked back at the alien youth, "I wish to meet Abin Sur's replacement fully,"

_1 Week Later, Earth…_

The sun was slowly setting in the sky, backlighting the solemn scene unfolding in the cemetery. The actual ceremony had ended over three hours ago, and now the entirety of Team Prime, even Ratchet, stood gathered around the gravestone. Miko, Raf, Fowler, and June stood at their feet, June's eyes puffy and red from crying.

When Optimus had told June of what had happened, she'd had a variety of reactions. The first two had been expected. She had almost immediately collapsed with huge heaving sobs, leaving the poor Prime to try and comfort the woman. As old and wise as he was, comforting others over loss was not his strong suit.

Her second reaction had been a brief surge of anger at Miko for being so reckless. The woman had begun to curse the girl, demanding she brought to her right now to give her a piece of her mind. This hadn't lasted long, and June quickly calmed herself.

Optimus had been surprised by this, and when he asked her why she had calmed down so fast, June had said, "It wouldn't have mattered if Miko had run through or not. Jack would have sacrificed himself to save any of us, even one of you. That was what he and his father had in common; the boy always had to be a hero,"

After that, Fowler had begun working on a cover story for Jacks untimely demise. He'd brought the first one to the bots and his family, and to say the reaction to it was explosive would have been putting it lightly.

"Boy dies in Motorcycle accident," had been the initial cover story.

Arcee had nearly killed the agent on the spot when he read it. The femme had to be restrained by Optimus, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee before she finally calmed down enough to not try and kill the agent. Once they let her go, she'd stalked off to her quarters, where she had refused to leave for the rest of the week. Every time one of the bots tried to talk her out, they received no answer, though Optimus had heard silent sobs emanating from her quarters.

After that, he'd ordered everyone to let her be. Like June, the femme needed her time to grieve, and she didn't want anyone to see her so weak. This had been different than Cliffjumper or Tailgates death. The gap between them had been long enough that Arcee was able to handle Cliff's death fairly well.

Jack's death had happened only a handful of months after Cliffs, and in that time period the boy had torn down Arcee's walls. She'd been more social, happier and outgoing than she'd ever been since the death of Tailgate. And now she'd lost a third partner.

Even now, standing in a half circle around the boy's grave, the femme was barely holding together. But hold together she did, Arcee had never cried in front of anyone yet, and she refused to do so now.

June had covered that department for her, though despite her crying, the woman had managed to hold together fairly well. It was only at the beginning and when the gravestone was placed over the empty grave that she'd lost it. The rest of the time she managed to stay strong.

No one had said much since the funeral ended, but with no public eyes around, the Bots had made their appearances known. To simply watch wouldn't have been respectful to a teen who'd given the ultimate sacrifice for their cause.

"Should…. someone… say something?" Raf asked.

"Not much to say," Arcee said, her helm bowed.

Optimus kneeled suddenly, and placed a single servo on the grave, "Rest in peace Jack. Though the world may never know of your sacrifice, we will never forget the price you paid,"

They were simple words, not long, not complex, just simple. They were the best any could have said. It was what Jack would have wanted them to say…

_Oa Medical Ward…_

As Jack slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he became aware of, was the pain. His whole body throbbed painfully, like someone had poured liquid metal into his bones. He winced as he moved his arm, it felt like he'd sprained it, or that someone had done a river dance on it. Basically, it hurt.

The teen heard the faint sound of a heartbeat monitor, and began to look around. After several moments, he had quickly deduced that wherever he was, he certainly wasn't on Earth. He was in some sort of large medical wards, with rows of beds lining either wall. He was the only one hooked up to a machine, heck the only one he could see at all in the ward.

But what was odd was that the walls seemed made of smooth silver steel, with lines of emerald green energy tracing along the floor, up the walls, and even the ceiling. The tech that he was hooked up to didn't seem to have been made by humans either, they all seemed to have letters-at least he thought they were letters- written on them in an alien language.

He thought for a brief moment that maybe he had died and this was what the afterlife looked like. He quickly dismissed the idea though when he saw his personal items, his phone, wallet, house keys, and the Key to Vector Sigma, lying on a stand next to him. He doubted the afterlife would let him bring his personal affects with him.

Jack groaned and fell back on his bed against the surprisingly soft pillow, a hand on his forehead as a small wave of pain passed through his skull, "Primus, Knockout must've hit me hard,"

"Ah good you are awake," a voice said. It sounded like someone had recorded two people at once and then distorted it till it resembled a single voice.

Jack turned towards the voice and his eyes widened in shock. A figure that resembled a bipedal bird fish hybrid dressed in a green and black skin tight suit with a familiar symbols on its chest stood before him. Its head was gold and scaly with a large fin sticking out the top of its head and a yellow beak where its mouth should be.

"Okay, clearly I have some sort of brain injury, because now I'm just seeing things," Jack said, shocked by the being before him.

"Your injuries have since healed, and I do not recall brain trauma being one of them," the bird fish man said with a straight face. He clearly didn't get sarcasm.

"Okay," Jack said, "Where am I then? And who are you?"

"In answer to your second question," the alien started, "I am Tomar-Re, Green Lantern of Sector 2813. You are in the Oa Medical ward. You are lucky you even _made_ it here, you were critically injured when you arrived, multiple broken bones; namely you're left arm and your ribs, one punctured lung,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Jack said, holding up a hand and pinching his nose. This was a lot to take in, "Okay, what is a Green Lantern? Where is Oa? How the pit did I even get here?"

He winced again as a wave of pain rolled through his bones. That was starting to get annoying.

"Careful," Tomar said, walking forward slightly, "Your injuries are healed, but you've just experienced a major physical change,"

That got Jacks attention, "What do you mean? I still look the same," he motioned to his body.

"On the outside yes," Tomar said, "But when we first brought you hear, the medical staff was unable to save you. You died on the operating table,"

Jacks mouth went dry and he gulped looking down at his hands, "Then how am I still… you know?"

"Alive"

He nodded.

Tomar walked to the table with Jacks stuff on it and lifted up the Key to Vector Sigma, "According to the medical staff, this device began to glow and floated above you, discharging some sort of energy into you. When the light died down, your injuries were healed and your body was in better condition than before,"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"This device coated the inside of your bone structure with a metal alloy we've never seen before, and causing your muscle density to increase by 50%, and yet somehow allowing your body to still function normally,"

Jack looked at the key shocked; he'd never known the device could do something like that either. Today was a day full of surprises for the young teen; something that Tomar picked up on fairly quickly, "I take it you didn't know the device could do that?"

Jack shook his head, "No, I just thought it was a data storage device, I never knew it could do that," he admitted.

"So your kind didn't build it," Tomar said.

"No, it's not human tech, we're way behind Cybertronian tech," said Jack.

This seemed to confirm something for Tomar "Human. So that's what you are,"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I'm human. But I still don't know what a Green Lantern is, or what it has to do with me,"

If it was possible, Tomar seemed to almost smile, "A Green Lantern is an intergalactic peacekeeper, assigned to protect a sector of the galaxy by the Guardians of the universe, an ancient race dedicated to preserving peace in the universe. Each Lantern is equipped with one of these," he raised his fist showing a green ring with the same symbol on it as his chest.

"Jewelry? You keep the peace with jewelry?" he asked incredulously.

Tomar shook his head, "There is more to this ring then meets the eye," he explained, "Not only can it project hard-light constructs forged from the green energy of Will power, something you will learn more of in time," he quickly added before continuing.

"They also function as miniature computers, they have basic scanning and communications capabilities, they also have universal translation programs built in. They can translate any known spoken or written language, and can even incorporate new ones if need be,"

"And what exactly is a construct?" Jack asked.

Instead of speaking, Tomar's ring suddenly began to glow bright green. In an instant, an emerald green model of an alien ship was suddenly floating in front of Jack. The teen looked at it dumbstruck.

"That, is a construct. The user of the ring is able to create whatever he imagines so long as he has the willpower to create and maintain it, whether it be a weapon or tool,"

"That's… wow," Jack said, utterly blown away by everything that had occurred in the past few minutes.

Then a final question occurred to me, "This is all said and good, but what am _I _doing here?" he had a faint idea of what it might be, but he wasn't entirely sure.

Tomar picked something else up off the table, his ship construct fading away. He held it up for Jack to see, and his fain memories of how he'd been saved suddenly returned to him. Tomar held a ring in his hand.

"The previous owner of this ring, Abin Sur, has passed. His ring was sent out to find someone worthy to replace him. The ring chose you," Tomar said, and held it out to him.

Jack carefully took the ring from the Lantern, looking at it in awe. Abin's last words held more weight in his mind. Out of the billions and billions of people on Earth… the ring had chosen him. He wasn't sure he deserved such an honor, there were plenty of other people out there who would be able to handle such a responsibility better than him.

"So this is Abin Sur's replacement," A strong voice asked. Jack looked up from the ring to see a man with purple skin, black hair, pointed ears, and yellow eyes enter the room. He wore a uniform similar to Tomar Re's.

Tomar seemed surprised by the man's sudden appearance, "Sinestro, what are you doing here?" he asked, shocked.

"I was just stopping by to see if the boy's condition had changed. It's been almost a week since he first arrived," Sinestro answered.

"Wait, a week!?" Jack yelled, "I've been here in a coma for a week?"

He placed his hand back on his forehead, the ring still held tightly in his right hand, "Oh great, everyone probably thinks I'm dead," he groaned.

"Then I suggest you get dressed and make your way to the citadel," Sinestro ordered dryly, "The sooner you've talked with the guardians, the sooner you can tell your friends and family that you're still alive,"

Sinestro looked to Tomar, "I assume you can take care of the boy from here?"

His fellow lantern nodded. Sinestro returned the nod, and a green aura surrounded him, allowing him to fly out of the medical ward, "I'll see you there," he said over his shoulder. And then he was gone.

"I apologize," Tomar said, "Sinestro is one of the best in the corps, but he has a habit for being very blunt,"

"I noticed," Jack said, before another question occurred to him, "Exactly how many lanterns are there?" he asked.

"3600 total," Tomar said, "But that's not counting the honor guard, who patrol whichever of the 3600 sectors and beyond that they wish,"

Jack let out a low whistle, "That's a lot of peacekeepers,"

Tomar nodded, "That it is," he said, "I'll shall fetch your garments Jack Darby," he added suddenly.

Jack looked at the hospital gown he was wearing, "Thanks… Wait, how did you know my name?"

"It was on your ID," Tomar said as he exited the ward as if it was perfectly normal for someone to look through another's personal possessions.

Jack sighed as the lantern left and looked at the ring in his hand. To think that such a small device contained so much power was shocking. And it had chosen him to wield it. Jack snorted, _"No pressure," _he thought to himself.

Tomar quickly returned with all of olds Jacks clothes neatly pressed and folded, his sneakers resting atop the pile. He set them on the tray next to him, "I shall wait outside, you need simply call if you need assistance,"

"Thanks Tomar," Jack said. The Lantern nodded and floated out of the room, leaving Jack by himself.

Once the door closed behind him, Jack carefully pulled himself to the edge of the bed, setting his bare feet on the cold steel. He shivered slightly before hauling himself up, and wincing as his full weight settled. He might have bones of steel, but that didn't make him immune to pain.

Ignoring his pain, Jack managed to pull his clothes on. Once his shoes were tied, he stood back up and stretched. A week lying in bed sounded good, until you actually experienced. It honestly felt good to be standing again.

He gathered up his items and slipped them back into his pockets, pausing to examine the key. It appeared the exact same as it always did, glowing ever so faintly. Yet hidden within it was a mystery he'd never known to exist. He decided to that he'd start paying more attention to the key, an action that could yield nothing, or reveal something big.

Still holding the ring, Jack turned and walked out of the medical ward, the pain in his bones starting to fade quickly. The doors to the ward opened silently, letting the teen exit into what appeared to be an empty lobby. Tomar stood waiting near the exit, his arms crossed.

"You have yet to put on the ring," he said.

Jack stopped and looked at the small emerald ring in his hand, "Well… I already did before and nothing happened. Maybe it ran out of juice transporting me here?" he suggested.

The look on Tomar's face suggested he didn't believe him, "Highly unlikely, Abin Sur always kept his ring charged. Even an ultra warp here would not have drained it,"

Jack looked at the ring in his hand reluctantly, "You are… afraid to put the ring on?" Tomar asked, confused.

Jack closed his hand over the ring, "Not afraid, unworthy. I don't deserve this much power, I mean I'm only sixteen, there has to be someone out there better qualified to handle this,"

"Perhaps," Tomar admitted. Jack lowered his head in shame.

"But," he added, making Jack look back up, "a ring does not choose its wearer based on if they are qualified to handle the power. They choose it based on their own willpower. Their ability to push against the odds no matter what. Whatever, or whoever you were before becoming a lantern has no consequence once the ring chooses you,"

Tomar motioned to Jacks closed fist, "Put it on,"

Jack looked at his closed fist again and sighed, "Fine, you win," he said.

He opened his fist and picked up the ring with his left hand. Holding out his right hand, he slid it into place and let go. The results were nearly instantaneous. A bright green glow emanated from the ring, engulfing Jack much to his surprise. Said light was so bright he was forced to close his eyes.

The light lasted only for a second or two, before it dimmed and died. Jack opened his eyes and looked at the new suit that had covered his form. He now wore a black, skin-tight full body suit, with dark green sections across the shoulders and upper chest, with a white circle emblazoned in the middle of the chest, and a green symbol, comprising of a ring inset between two horizontal beveled lines.

He also wore boots that were the same shade of green as the chest guard and insignia, and they seemed to be fused to the legs of the suit. On his arms, he wore metal arm guards that were the same dark shade of green as the rest of his suit. He felt something on his face and reached up to feel a mask covering his face.

"What's with the mask?" he asked Tomar.

"It's to ensure the secrecy of your identity," said Tomar, "Some Lanterns do not wish for their sector to know their identity due to the media of their planets. So the mask has become a standard part of the lantern uniform. If you wish, the mask shall disappear around those you trust,"

"Really, all I have to do is think it?" Jack said in amazement.

Tomar nodded, "Alright, let me give this a shot," he closed his eyes for a moment and focused. He felt something a-kin to a wind blowing across his face, and opened his eyes. He felt his face again to see that the mask was gone.

"Alright," he said, "That is awesome,"

"It is indeed awesome," Tomar said, clearly not understanding the modern use of the phrase.

Tomar motioned for Jack to follow him, "Come, now that you are awake, the guardians will want to speak with you,"

"Right," Jack said, nodding.

He followed the lantern out of the hospital, and came to a stop, his jaw dropping. Jack was no stranger to alien landscapes, he'd been to Cybertron after all. But compared to Oa, the dead state of Cybertron was even more evident in his mind.

Glittering towers made of white metal and traced with green energy shot thousands of feet into the sky. Faint green lights shot from building to building, other Lanterns Jack realized, as said lanterns worked on maintaining the massive planet. Even the floor of the planet seemed alive, resembling a circuit board, with more green lines of energy tracing through them.

Then Jack looked up at the sky, and felt his jaw drop. Even though it was the middle of the day, there was no blue sky, instead millions of glittering stars covered the sky, more than he'd ever seen in his entire life. He followed the stars from one end of the skyline to the other, and froze.

Another planet loomed at the edge, dangerously close to Oa. It was blue and green like Earth, but with a key difference. A massive ring of green energy surrounded it, with the Lantern symbol displayed proudly in the middle.

Tomar noticed the confusion on Jacks face, "That, is Mogo, the largest Green Lantern in existence,"

Jack did a double take, "That planet is a Lantern!?" he asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

"That planets alive!?" he added for affect.

"Indeed Jack Darby. Mogo handles the distribution of Rings from Oa into Guardian space. He is also the final line of defense, should Oa ever fall under attack," Tomar explained.

"Well a living planet with a power ring is a good deterrent," Jack deadpanned.

"Quite," said Tomar in agreement, walking to the edge of a platform.

"Now, we're going to fly now," he stated, a green aura surrounding his body and lifting him into the air.

Jack tore his gaze from the large Lantern orbiting Oa and looked over the ledge. It was a _very _long way down. He looked back up at Tomar.

"I think I prefer my feet on the ground," he said nervously.

"You needn't worry Jack Darby, will yourself into the air, and you will fly," Tomar said.

Jack took in a deep breath, "Alright, here it goes," he focused again, willing himself off the ground to fly.

"I don't feel-" he was cut off as he suddenly lifted off the ground, a faint green aura surrounding him.

"Whoa!" he yelled, his body trembling as he tried to stay upright.

"Stay calm Jack Darby, imagine your swimming through the air, and it shall become easier," Tomar told him.

Jack took to his advice, and suddenly his trembling stopped, and he floated gracefully through the air, "This is amazing!" he shouted happily.

Tomar cracked a faint smile, "If you would follow me," he said.

Jack nodded and followed after Tomar. He found the easiest way to fly forward was to hold his ring hand out in front of him while keeping his left arm close to his body. He moved faster and more stable.

Jack flew up next to Tomar, the ground flying by underneath them, "So, exactly how fast can we go?" he asked.

"There is no limit exactly," Tomar said, "It all depends on the users willpower,"

"Is everything with the rings based on that?" Jack asked.

"Willpower is what powers the ring," Tomar explained, "You see those green lights tracing through Oa?" he asked.

Jack nodded, "That is willpower, which is represented by green on the emotional spectrum. There are a total of seven colors, red for rage, orange for avarice, yellow for fear, green for will, blue for hope, violet for compassion, and pink for love,"

"So why willpower?" Jack asked.

"The guardians found that it is the most reliable of the seven emotions, and the least likely to dictate the wearers actions like the others," Tomar said, "It allows one to think logically instead of with just their instincts,"

"That makes sense," Jack said, looking forward. He was amazed at how fast they were moving, maybe as fast as a jet liner. The ground and buildings were hardly more than blurs as the two flew by.

"We're here," Tomar said suddenly.

Jack immediately slowed, taking in the Citadel in awe, something that was becoming a habit of his. It was a huge building, towering hundreds upon hundreds of feet upwards, and spreading out the same distance. It was mostly white with green lines wrapped around the top and bottom of a large central dome. Platforms stuck out at four different sides, and lanterns could be seen occasionally landing and taking off from the platforms.

Jack landed on one of said platforms with Tomar, one that was thankfully devoid of Lanterns. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready to start meeting a bunch of aliens, there was only so much a single teen could handle in one day.

Tomar walked forward, "Welcome Jack Darby, to the Citadel,"

_Hall of the Guardians, 5 minutes later…_

Jack stood in the center of the large chamber, looking up at the ring of small aliens who were looking down at him in turn. Honestly, they were NOT what he'd expected. He'd expected beings larger than Humans, at least as large as Arcee, from the impressions he'd got from the two Green Lanterns.

Instead, he'd found himself confronted by a group of beings no higher than Raf's shoulders, each with identical shades of blue skin, some had white hair, some didn't. Some wore permanent frowns, and some looked at him with curiosity, but they all wore identical clothing. A crimson robe, and he had to assume, tunics and pants underneath that. Each one wore what he assumed was the Green Lantern insignia on their robes.

He was finding it difficult to tell them apart, let alone which were female and which were male, though the females did seem to have softer facial features, even if some of them lacked any hair on their heads.

Another thing he noticed, was that they were all powerful. He could _feel_ it. And somehow, he could feel their minds brushing against his own. Not probing invasively, just passive contact, as if they were testing his defenses.

He'd felt it the instant he'd entered the room, escorted by Tomar, Sinestro, and a big burley alien who'd introduced himself as Kilowog, one of the Drill Sergeants who also trained new recruits. For some reason, Jack instantly got a Bulkhead vibe off of the guy.

And to be honest, he wasn't sure he was comfortable being in the company of Telepaths, especially since no-one had warned him. He suspected that was part of the procedure, so the Guardians could screen all new recruits. If they didn't know the Guardians were telepaths, then they wouldn't be prepared, and try to hide things.

"So." One of the Guardians said, his tone that of someone who had little patience, but a lot of snappiness.

"You are the...'Human', from the planet you call Earth, supposedly located in a remote region of Sector 2814."

"That's right. Though I don't exactly know _where_ Earth is, in relation to Oa." Jack replied.

"What is your name?" another male Guardian asked, apparently they'd decided to not root around in his wallet like Tomar had. This Guardian had a gentle, almost serine appearance, and instantly put Jack at ease. He'd been told by Tomar as they entered the Citadel that the Guardians shunned all emotion, but looking into this one Guardian's face, Jack could see tiny flickers of emotion under the surface. He could see elements of Optimus' character in this Guardian.

"Jackson Darby, although my friends call me Jack." He smiled. The Guardian nodded in approval.

"I am Ganthet, my _'Colleague'_ here, is Appa Ali Apsa, and this," he gestured to the female sitting between him and Appa "Is Guardian Sayd. I know it might be difficult to tell us apart at first, but you'll get used to it."

"Greetings, Jack Darby of Earth." Sayd said, smiling faintly at him and nodding in acknowledgement.

"Now, let us discuss the matter of how you were brought to Oa, and why we do not have your planet's existence recorded in the Book of Oa." Appa said, cutting off all pleasantries and getting to business. Jack was starting to get a Ratchet-mixed-with-Fowler vibe, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Well, to start with, before I got here, I was falling to my death after getting thrown over a cliff, by the Decepticon called Knock Out." As soon as he'd finished this, the memory of that incident flashed through his mind, and he suspected one of them had fished it out, to get proof of what he was saying.

"So, these 'Decepticons', they are invaders to your world?" Sayd asked. Jack nodded.

"How can this be possible?" an as yet un-introduced female Guardian spoke up, "An entire _race_ of _Sentient_ Machines? How could we not have known about this? The only machine in our recorded history that came even _close_ to sentience was the Anti-Monitor. Surely we would have had contact with some of them before. If they possess the technology to cross the stars, surely a Green Lantern would have encountered one."

"You have a point, Scar, though we must first determine the identities of both factions in this civil war Jack Darby mentioned." Appa said, "And how both planets could have remained hidden from us for so long."

"I might have an idea about that, but I'm not sure you'll believe me. It depends how far back your peoples' history goes." Jack said, drawing all eyes on him.

"Our species is the oldest in the universe." Scar said.

"Ever heard of Primus and Unicron?"

Their silence was his answer.

"I'll take that as a 'No'," he said, and began explaining, "From what I was told, Unicron and Primus are the two primordial forces of Destruction and Creation, respectively. The two of them fought for dominance, but were too equally matched, until Primus created the Thirteen Primes, he was able to tip the balance in his favor, and beat Unicron, before merging with the Core of Cybertron, and created something called the Allspark to fill the planet with life. And Unicron...apparently he drifted through space until he eventually came to my solar system, where, about 4 and a half billion years ago, his body got caught in our sun's gravity, and all the dust and rocks from the formation of our solar system clumped around him."

"Forming your planet." Ganthet finished. Jack nodded.

"Are you saying the reason we were not able to detect these planets, was because of two beings that live at the heart of each world?" Scar asked, incredulous.

"In order for these beings to be so old, and so powerful, they must have existed _before_ the act of creation." Ganthet said. "It is quite possible that these two beings were _responsible_ for that act." He then looked down at Jack.

"You say that Primus and Unicron were too equally matched, yet they were polar opposites." Jack nodded again. If he kept this up then his head was liable to fall off.

"Yeah, pretty much, I mean, they must have been part of the same being at one point, until something split them apart."

The Guardians all exchanged looks, it was clear to him that they were communicating.

Kilowog stepped up beside him, "That's quite a story kid."

"Indeed." Sinestro said, "I'm not really one for Creation myths, but that is certainly interesting."

Suddenly, Sayd turned and focused on Jack.

"We must also determine what drew the ring to you. What made you, among all of your people, stand out enough to be worthy."

'_Fair enough.'_ Jack thought, suddenly, he felt a presence pushing against his mind, and he somehow knew it was Sayd, and he let his defenses down fully, and images started flashing through his mind, and actual memories started playing like video files.

_His first meeting with Arcee._

_Watching her engage the two Vehicons, then Bumblebee showing up to help her._

_His efforts to protect Ratchet from the Scraplet swarm, and then figuring out how to repair the Ground Bridge._

_His realizing that in order to protect the DYNGUS, he and Miko would have to get on the train before MECH._

_His first encounter with Airachnid, the defiance he'd shown towards her, and his ingenuity at blowing up her star-ship._

_His second encounter with her and Silas after he'd kidnapped his mother and held her for ransom. His strategic thinking in stealing Silas' radio, using it to call for help. Trying to rescue his mother, defying Airachnid._

_His exploration of the abandoned mine with Arcee, finding Megatron about to offline Starscream, Megatron seeing them and attacking, Starscream fleeing, the cave-in. Finding Megatron, sparing his life. Rescuing Bulkhead and Miko, finding Arcee._

_Seeing Rafael poisoned by Dark Energon, his brief brush with near-death, Ratchet saving the boy's life. His defiance of his mother and his determination to stay at the base. His relief when they were re-united._

_Stopping Rafael from charging Megatron at the base, not rising to his taunts. Optimus entrusting him with the Key and Ratchet telling him its purpose, and what Optimus giving it to him symbolized._

Over the mental link, Jack got the distinct impression that Sayd, and most of the other Guardians, were impressed by what she was sharing with them. His more recent memories seemed to provide the proof they were looking for.

_His realization of using the Decepticon Space Bridge to reach Cybertron, his mother's worrisome farewell. Taking his first steps on Cybertron, seeing the grief on Arcee's face, hearing it in her voice as she lamented on the death of her world._

_Driving with Arcee across the ruined landscape of the metal planet, the glowing Key in his hand guiding them. Their arrival at Kaon, finding the entrance to the lower levels. Being challenged by the Insecticon. Arcee pleading him to go without her, his reluctance to leave her at the mercy of the beast._

_His journey through the tunnels, finding the door, entering the Vector Sigma chamber. Activating the ancient machine, trying to defend it from the Scraplet swarm. The Insecticon's arrival, him throwing a Scraplet at it, the rest swarming the beast, eating it alive as it toppled of the platform. The Matrix reloading._

_Arcee and him racing back to the Space Bridge portal, getting no answer from Ratchet, realizing something is wrong. Arcee going through first, Jack following her and finding Optimus, Orion Pax, kneeling before him. Orion asking him if he believed he was worthy, restoring memories of the Last Prime, returning home._

Suddenly, the metal connection was broken and Jack stumbled back, only to be caught by the big hand of Kilowog.

"Easy there Poozer, you need to be careful after they go rootin' around in your head." he warned

Jack smiled. "Thanks."

The Guardians remained quiet, conversing amongst themselves, then they turned to address him.

"Jackson Darby of Earth, it is the decision of this Council, that you have been deemed worthy of joining the Green Lantern Corps, you will begin your training immediately under Lantern's Kilowog and Sinestro. Once you're training is complete, you will take over Abin Sur's post as Green Lantern of Sector 2814, with your home-world of Earth as your base of Operations. Congratulations." Appa said, though the frown didn't really leave his face, it did become less severe.

"Come 'on kid, let's get you to the main power battery, bout time we made you official," Kilowog said, leading the teen out, Tomar following close behind.

Once they were gone, Sinestro turned to leave.

"1417, please wait." Appa said. Sinestro turned back to face the Council.

"When the time comes for our latest recruit to return to his home world, we want you and Lantern Kilowog to attempt to make contact with these...Cybertronians, specifically, the Autobots, and evaluate them, they may yet prove useful allies," he said. Sinestro nodded, he could see the logic.

"And you are to do a thorough threat assessment of the Decepticons. Determine exactly how many of them there are, and how wide-spread the threat they pose is. We already have the supposed lantern killers to worry about, we don't need another threat,"

Sinestro straightened and saluted. "Yes sir." he said, before turning to walk out.

"Oh," Appa said quickly, regaining his attention yet again, "And before Jack returns to Earth, discover what the device that healed him is capable of. According to him, this Key to Vector Sigma is simply a data storage device. See if you can find out more," he ordered.

Sinestro saluted again, "Of course," and flew through the large doors, which closed silently behind him…

_The Central Battery…_

Once again, Jack looked at the structure before him in awe. There really was no other way to look at it, the central battery was awe inspiring. Two massive white columns, easily ten feet in length, emerged from the floor and ceiling, a large mass of green swirling energy set in the center, contained behind what appeared to be glass, but probably was some sort of alien material instead.

Jack looked back at the group behind him, "So I just fly up to it, place my ring against the glass and say the oath that you haven't even told me yet?" he asked.

"Yup," Kilowog said, "Don't worry, the oath'll come to you. And once you do, all the information in the battery will be transferred to you. And anything stored in your ring will transfer to the central battery for us,"

Jack nodded and looked back at the battery, "Here it goes," he said nervously.

The familiar green aura surrounded him, and Jack flew up to the center of the battery, his ring hand extended. As he drew closer, he felt the power the battery contained thrumming in the air, in his very being. It was incredible how much power was contained within, he was amazed that the battery could hold it.

His ring tapped against the lantern, and Jack realized that Kilowog was right. The oath did just sort of come to him. Jack took in a deep breath, and began what he hoped was the oath.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power. Green Lanterns light,"

As the last words left his mouth, the ring and lantern flared bright green for a brief moment, and he felt something surge into his ring. Then the light died down, and the surge ended. Jack felt an immense knowledge pressing against his consciousness, like water against a floodgate. He realized that he could allow the knowledge to enter his mind whenever he wanted, it wouldn't overwhelm him.

Jack brought his hand close to his chest, his ring glowing slightly brighter than before, "**Ring charge at 100%**" it reported.

Jack smiled and turned back to the lanterns, now eager to start his training, "So," he stated, "when do I start?"

**A/N: Chapter two, boy was this a long one to write. So, what did you guys think? Did it hold up as well as the first chapter, or did it fall flat? I hope you liked it either way though. And remember to let me know what you think in the reviews, I can only get better if you guys point out flaws in my writing. Ideas and questions though, belong in the PMs. Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Training

_Deep Space…_

A massive chunk of earth, miles in size, floated through the never ending vastness of space, seemingly bland and indifferent to any other asteroid that wandered the universe to the casual observer. But upon closer examination, the observer would notice that this asteroid didn't tumble end over end. Nor was it simply a barren chunk of earth floating through space.

Closer examination would reveal massive grey and red spires towering hundreds of feet above the surface of the asteroid, spaced and arranged like a crown forged with no noticeable direction. Cylinders of steel and red energy emerged from the bottom of the asteroid, resembling candles pushed into a birthday cake at random.

At the rear of the asteroid, multiple engines sprouted from its brown skin, an eerie red glow pulsating outwards from them, propelling the makeshift floating city through space. But this was no ordinary space based city. This was Shard, the Red Lantern base of operations.

Atop the highest of these towers, set in the center of the city, was a large room with a single window overlooking shard, with the Red Lantern logo set into the window, carved of steel. The room itself was lit a dull red, faintly illuminating the room and casting a shadow on the massive figure that stood at the window, arms crossed behind his back.

The only door leading in open suddenly and the bulbous body of Zillius Zox floated in, preferring to fly instead of using his stubby legs. The figure at the window never turned to address him, speaking while he overlooked the city, "I take it your delay on returning to Shard is well founded Zox?" he demanded, a cold rage underlying his deep voice.

Zox seemed to puff out his tiny chest, "Yes actually, I managed to ambush and kill the Lantern Abin Sur, and though he put up a tough fight, he was no match for our rage!" he raised his fist triumphantly as he spoke.

"And yet the machines I sent with you are gone,"

Zox paused, "Well… yes, but they were essential in killing Abin Sur, and now the Guardians lap dogs are that much weaker than they are before!"

The figure was silent for a moment, then, "And Abin Sur's ring?" he asked.

Zox paused, a look of confusion on his face, "What?"

"His ring, did you remove Abin Sur's ring, to ensure that it would not find a new bearer!?" the figure demanded.

"I-I," Zox stuttered, "w-well y-you see, I never a-actually…"

The figure turned out of the shadows, his form finally revealed. His skin was blood red, with no hair and lips permanently parted in a gruesome snarl revealing pointed teeth. His yellow eyes lacked any pupils, making it seem as if he saw everything. He bore a disturbing resemblance to a demon, with several protrusions emerging from his red skull.

He wore a skin tight black body suit, with a red chest plate and shoulder pads, the Red Lantern logo emblazoned on his chest in black and silver. He wore red gauntlets that stopped before his clawed hands, and a pair of thick red boots that thudded heavily with every step he took. And he was big, easily towering over seven feet, nearly eight feet tall.

The massive red figure stomped towards Zox, fury in his eyes, "Never what Zox!? Care to explain the _exact _details of your fight with Abin Sur!?" he demanded.

Zox cowered back away from the demon like figure, "I never actually saw Abin Sur die!" he squealed as his leader approached him.

"YOU WHAT!?" the demonic figure roared, grabbing Zox by his suit and lifting him to eye level, "You have accomplished nothing then Zox, only by ensuring his death and the capture of his power ring would we have gained an assured advantage of the guardians," he threw Zox to the ground, the round little alien bouncing like a beach ball before rolling to a stop.

Zox rolled on his back trying to upright himself, all the while his master stomped towards him, "Atrocitus please! I did manage to kill him, at an unknown system as well! So what if someone else gets his ring, no one could replace Abin Sur!"

Atrocitus stopped, glaring down at his ball shaped servant, who finally managed to get to his stubby legs. Once he did, Atrocitus walked past him through the door behind him, "Follow Zox," he ordered.

Reluctantly, the lantern followed Atrocitus through the door, "And where might we be going master?" he asked nervously.

"To the central battery," Atrocitus stated, his rage still present, but cooled.

Zox nodded and followed, anxiety building in his gut. He knew Atrocitus was still mad, and he knew that his wrath could fall upon him at any moment, "You claim that no one being could replace Abin Sur Zox, correct?" Atrocitus asked as they walked.

Zox nodded floating behind him, "Of course, he was the best the Lanterns had. No being could hope to replace him,"

Atrocitus almost snarled, "You forget that any being with the will is capable of becoming a Lantern. What if Abin Sur's replacement proves to be even more powerful Zox!?"

"Then he will fall before our rage Lord Atrocitus, no lantern can hope to match our rage with willpower," Zox proclaimed proudly.

Atrocitus stopped at the base of a large set of steps leading up to the central battery. The massive power battery stood on an empty platform, an altar standing tall behind it, shaped in their logo. The battery itself resembled a large red lantern, with a vortex of furious red swirling within, the mere sight of which caused the deepest rage to boil.

Atrocitus stepped up to the lantern, and held out his ring hand, reciting the oath, "With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all-That is your fate!" a bright red light flashed from the battery to his ring, fully charging it.

Atrocitus turned to Zox, holding his ring up, the glow from it bathing him in red, "I am willing to give you one last chance to redeem yourself from this failure Zox, there are three red Lanterns in need of training to refine their rage. Train them, and then return to this planet, find Abin Sur if he is still alive and if not, kill his replacement!"

Zox nodded hurriedly and bowed, "Of course Lord Atrocitus, it shall be done"

_Recruit Barracks, Oa…_

Jack slowly came to a landing on the circular platform outside the Barracks. The building, like most buildings on Oa, was dome shaped with several entrances with landing platforms connecting to them. It lay atop a tower several hundred feet above the circuit board ground of the planet, and was a very simplistic white, with emerald green lining the entrances in the doorways.

Jack looked at the structure and sighed, there really was no turning back now. Course that had been the case quite a few times today, but this felt more final. Once he entered the barracks, he wasn't going to be leaving Oa until his training was complete. He looked down at the green power battery in his hands, courtesy of Tomar-Re after he'd charged at the central battery, and looked back at the entrance.

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, he walked in, taking care to hide the anxiety and nervousness that was building in his chest. Besides the training he'd have to endure, Jack was nervous to meet even more alien species, after all he was the only human on Oa, and he'd yet to meet a single species that looked remotely human, even Sinestro looked clearly alien with his purple skin and pointed ears.

As Jack walked through the entrance, he had to wonder if that's how the Autobots felt on Earth. They were refugees essentially, trapped on an alien world, surrounded by aliens that were greatly different than them. No wonder Arcee had trouble liking humans, they were just another alien species to her, probably one of dozens she'd met.

Jack ended his thoughts as the doors slid open for him, showing him into the barracks. The walls were bare, except for the standard lines of willpower tracing them, with rows of beds with pure white sheets and emerald green covers on them, and a second bed held aloft by steel bars, and a stand-meant for power batteries no doubt- on either side. Oddly simplistic and Spartan for an advanced alien world, but then, Jack reasoned that sometimes there wasn't a need for complexities on something like a bed.

Another thing Jack noticed, was that there wasn't a single other Lantern in here, recruit or otherwise. The stands were all bare too, save for one, but Jack couldn't see any sign of the batteries owner anywhere.

"Maybe they went out for an afternoon flight," he muttered and walked to the nearest bed, setting his battery on the stand and sitting on the bed, immediately noticing how comfortable it was. Say what you will about the Guardians, they knew how to make comfortable beds.

Jack was about to lay on said bed, get some rest before what was going to inevitable be the butt-kicking of his life, when he heard a rustling from the bunk above him, followed by a surprised squeak, and a loud thump on the floor on the other side of his bed.

Jack quickly sat up and peered over his bed, freezing as he saw who had apparently fallen off the top bunk. A girl of about 16 or 17, dressed in a white tank top with a green collar, green gloves, boots and a skirt that stopped slightly above her knees lay on the floor, rubbing her head.

She had blonde hair, pointed ears, pale pink skin, and blue green eyes. Most of her physical features were elfish, with upturned eyebrows, raised cheek bones, and a slender figure, though she was slightly shorter than Jack it seemed.

"Gah my head," she hissed and started to get up, "What's a Lantern got to do around here to get some shut…eye," she trailed off as she noticed Jack for the first time standing across from her.

The two were utterly silent for a moment, the girl likely shocked by their being another Lantern in the barracks, and Jack because he was never good at talking to girls. He had a hard enough time talking to girls of his own species; he was practically screwed in this case.

Eventually the alien girl broke their awkward silence, "Uh…hi," she said softly, waving nervously, "I didn't know there were other Graxonites on Oa,"

Jack managed to find his voice, "A… Graxonite?" he said, slightly confused. Though at the moment his brain still trying to connect to his mouth.

The girl turned a faint shade of red as she realized her mistake, "Sorry, I just got to Oa today, I kinda forgot that there wouldn't be any other new recruits from my sector here,"

"I-its fine, my first day too," Jack said.

"Oh!" the girl said suddenly, "I almost forgot, my name is Arisia Rrab of Graxos IV, Sector 2815,"

She tilted her head slightly, "You?"

Jack blinked once before the gears in his head finally started to work, "Me, ugh, oh. Jack Darby of Earth I guess. Sector 2814 I think,"

Arisia giggled at how unsure he was, "How can you not know your own sector number?" she asked.

He shrugged "Up until this morning I didn't even know that the Green Lanterns existed, let alone that Earth was a part of a sector,"

That caught her attention, "So you're an entirely new species!?" she asked excitedly.

"I guess," Jack said, rubbing his head nervously, "Though technically I've been on Oa for a week in a coma, just woke up this morning,"

She looked at him worried, "A coma, why?"

"I got backhanded off a cliff by a 20 foot tall Cybertronian who didn't take kindly to me flinging a rock at his optic, would have died if it hadn't been for the ring," Jack said nonchalantly.

Arisia widened her eyes in shock, "Wow, and I just got my ring in the middle of class, flew right in through the window," she said, slightly embarrassed.

Jack laughed, "I think I'd have preferred to have that happen then get knocked off a cliff any day," he joked.

"I'd certainly hope so, hate to be in a room with a sadomasochist," Arisia said, her tone dead serious. The two looked at each other with straight faces for about five seconds before breaking down into laughter. It wasn't the funniest joke, but it helped ease the tension that had been in the room.

The laughter died down pretty quick, and Jack wiped a tear out of his eye, "So," he started, "How long did you have your ring before coming to Oa?" he asked.

Arisia shrugged and sat on the bed across from Jacks, legs crossed, "About two or three days, just had to say goodbye to my friends and family before flying off to Oa, you have any family?" she asked.

Jacks face fell, and Arisia immediately raised her hands in a helping gesture, "Sorry, didn't mean to strike a sore spot," she said quickly.

Jack shook his head, "No I've got friends and family, just that they probably all think I'm dead, they saw me get knocked off a cliff, and I haven't been able to contact them since to let them know I'm okay," he lowered his head further.

Arisia looked at him confused, "Why not use your ring to contact them? It's what I did when I first got to Oa,"

Jack looked up at her shocked, "You can do that!?" he asked amazed.

Arisia laughed, "Yes, you can do that. Didn't anyone tell you?"

Jack paused for a moment and remembered faintly that Tomar had told him something about that, but had never gone into detail. Jack looked at the ring, "So how do I do this?" he asked.

"Just tell the Ring who you want to contact along with their location, sector and planet," Arisia said.

Jack nodded, "Contact June Darby, Jasper Nevada, Earth, Sector 2814," he ordered.

**"Contacting,"** the ring stated in monotone, the faint glow pulsing for several seconds, all the while Jack felt his heart pounding in his chest.

Suddenly, **"Failure to establish connection,"**

Jack felt his heart sink, "Why?" he asked the ring.

**"Signal is being jammed," **was the answer he received.

Jack cursed and lowered his ring hand, "I'm sorry Jack," Arisia said.

He smiled weakly, "Thanks, guess it's not too big a deal, once I finish here I can head home. Mom's going to kill me though," he said, letting out a sad laugh.

Arisia laughed too, "Your mom a bit of a worrier?" she asked.

Jack laughed a little harder, "That would be an understatement, she worries over _everything_!" he exclaimed.

"Oh she can't be as bad as my mom, she's the _queen _of worrying" Arisia said, a hint of challenge in her eyes.

Jack cocked a brow, "That so?" he asked.

At that the two began to exchange stories detailing how overprotective their parents were, what they did to keep them safe, and how they tended to blow a situation out of the water. According to Arisia, her mom tried to walk her to school till she was 13, only stopping when her dad made her stop. Jack countered that with his mom's obsession with making him eat tofu, or anything healthy.

They talked for a good hour, until, "ALRIGHT YA POOZERS, THAT'S ENOUGH CHIT CHAT!" the deep voice of Kilowog boomed as he walked into the barracks.

The two looked at the sergeant in shock, Jack in particular, having actually met the big guy an hour or so earlier. He seemed a lot more down to earth then most guys he knew, and plenty friendly. He should have known that when it came to training, that wouldn't be the case.

Kilowog looked between them, his beady red eyes narrowed, "Well, whatcha doin sittin around huh!? Line up, straighten up, let's go let's go ya poozer's!" he yelled.

Jack and Arisia scrambled of their bunks and lined up in front of them stock still as Kilowog paced in front of them, "Ya call that a line Poozer!?" he screamed at Jack, who winced, "Arms and legs, straighten them up! Now!"

Jack became rigid as an iron beam, and Kilowog frowned, "Good enough…. for a Poozer," he muttered the last bit under his breath.

"Ya know what that means!?" Kilowog suddenly demanded. Neither Arisia nor Jack knew what he was talking about.

The large lantern narrowed his eyes, "I said; DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!?"

"No sir!" Arisia and Jack said in unison. They didn't know what the sergeant was rambling about, but they sure weren't going to tell him that.

"What was that!?" he screamed, a three fingered hand cupped to his ear, "I can't hear you!"

"SIR, NO SIR!" they repeated, straining their lungs.

"That's what I thought!" Kilowog yelled. How he managed to keep yelling so loud without his chest imploding was anyone's guess.

"Ya see a Poozer is what I call a rookie who ain't worth the dirt he stands on!" Kilowog explained, vociferously.

Jack and Arisia exchanged brief looks before Kilowog continued, "In fact, you ain't even worthy of those little symbols on your chests!" he snapped his thick fingers, and the lantern logo on Jacks chest and Arisia's collar vanished, leaving only a white circle.

"Prove you're worthy to be a Lantern, and maybe you'll be able to actually wear that emblem without disgracing the corps!" Kilowog yelled, resuming his ranting once again.

Kilowog suddenly turned facing sideways to them, and pointed at the door he came through, "There's the exit, I expect you to be through it yesterday! Come on poozers, move, move, move!"

The two trainees ran towards the doors as fast as they could, more desperate to get away from their insane sergeant then to actually leave the barracks. The two ran out to the edge of the landing platform and turned back to see Kilowog float up behind them.

"Come on poozers, I haven't got all day!" he motioned for them to follow him and took off at a break neck pace.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a recurring theme," Jack muttered under his breath.

The familiar green aura surrounded the two, and they shot off after Kilowog, Jack taking the lead. Had Arisia been wearing a pair of pants or something he _might _have let her lead, but she wasn't so being a gentlemen he stayed ahead.

Kilowog quickly led them to a large white building resembling a dulled spike with a ring floating around the top and a single entrance leading into it. As they approached, Jack realized that it was huge, one of the tallest buildings he'd seen on Oa, and massive in width, nearly as wide as the Citadel at its base.

Jack and Arisia landed at the massive entrance, Kilowog waiting for them, arms crossed, "You stop at and admire the view on your way here poozers? Or are you just that slow!?" he demanded.

Jack clenched his fists and grit his teeth, but said nothing. Something told him that if he did talk back, his situation would only get worse. Besides, he'd handled far worse insults at High school, a personal hell in itself.

When Kilowog received no answer, he snorted, "Well, did ya!?"

"Sir no sir!" they replied in unison again.

He pointed into the structure, "Put your rears in gear and get in the training room, NOW!"

The two were about to fly into the structure, when Kilowog grabbed them both by their shoulders "Nah-ah, I don't think so rookies, you're running in," he flew forward, and Jack looked at the long entrance in.

"I think he's enjoying this," Arisia said.

Jack gave her a look, "What gave you that idea?" he asked sarcastically.

"Quit yer yappin and move it poozers!" Kilowog ordered from the entrance.

The two began a jog after him, quickly realizing that the building was easily a mile in diameter easy. Flying it would have been no problem to follow Kilowog, but they had to jog after him. In a matter of five minutes, the two entered into what appeared to be a large training room, three hundred feet high and twice as wide. They stood on a bridge about halfway up it square in the middle of the room. Various courses and devices seemed littered about the room, a series of rings traveling up one side of the room then down the other.

But, the one thing neither of them saw was Kilowog, "Where is he?" Jack asked warily.

"Hey poozers!" the drill sergeant called. The two looked over the bridge to see him standing at the bottom of the building at what seemed to be, at least to Jack, a shooting range of shorts.

Kilowog crossed his arms irritably, "Well, ya gonna gawk, or are ya gonna actually move like ya have a purpose!?"

The two looked to each other before the green aura surrounded them once again and they lifted into the air before descending to Kilowog below. The Bolovaxian was practically glaring at them, but said nothing, something both were grateful for.

Jack looked to the side and saw that in fact they were standing at what seemed to be a shooting range of sorts. Though instead of paper targets at the end, mannequins missing their lower arms and legs and crafted of some sort of yellow crystal stood at the end, no variation in difference.

"Alright poozers," Kilowog said, his tone dropping to a stern yell instead of an echoing roar, "First order of business, you have to learn how to use those rings of yours if you're to be of any use to the corps,"

He pointed down range, "Those targets are crafted using yellow orum, one of the few materials that not only resist our rings, but weaken or disable them in large enough quantities,"

Kilowog turned back to his recruits, "It's because yellow represents fear on the emotional spectrum, and fear can make your constructs, or your power blasts weak,"

"So how would we overcome that then?" Arisia asked.

Kilowog looked at her for a brief moment, before continuing, "Simple poozer, Lanterns overcome fear. We ain't fearless, but if a Lantern can overcome fear…"

Kilowog raised his ring at one of the yellow targets, green energy coalescing at the end and a low hum emanating from it. A beam of bright green energy suddenly lanced forward, and the target vanished when the beam slammed into it, smoke engulfing it. When it cleared, the target lay in pieces on the floor.

The Bolovaxian chuckled and blew a wisp of smoke off his ring, "Alright poozers," he said, turning back to them, "Let's see what you've got,"

Hesitating only for a brief moment, Jack and Arisia took position in front of their own targets, raising their ring hands. Arisia grit her teeth and fired, a beam of green energy, smaller than Kilowogs, slamming into her target, kicking up smoke. When the smoke cleared, not even a scratch was visible on the target.

She frowned and looked at her ring, the disappointment evident on her face, "You sure that ring chose you and you didn't just find it?" Kilowog asked mockingly.

Arisia's shoulders sagged, and her ring arm dropped. Jack shot the sergeant a glare, but said nothing to him. Instead, he focused on his own target, feeling the energy charging on his ring. There was a faint hum, and a beam of energy, slightly larger than Arisias' fired forth, colliding with his target.

Jack watched eagerly as the smoke cleared, and almost immediately felt his head and shoulders droop as the target appeared unscathed. Kilowog let out a laugh, "I ask for Lanterns, they send me poozers,"

Jack straightened up, "I want to try again," he said firmly.

Kilowog waved a dismissive hand, "No need, you still need work,"

"I need to try again," Jack reaffirmed.

Kilowog saw the look in his eyes and shrugged, "Alright, give 'er another go,"

Jack lifted his arm again, gripping his forearm with his left hand, holding both stiffly. He fired again, this time maintaining a beam of fierce emerald energy for several seconds. Jack growled as he maintained the blast, determined to leave his mark on the target. Eight seconds later, and he dropped his arm, panting slightly. He hadn't expected the ring to tire him like that at all, he felt like he'd been running from cons all day.

The smoke cleared, revealing cracks spreading out across the dummies chest. Kilowog let out a low whistle, "Not bad poozer, I ain't seen a rookie damage a target like that in years,"

Jack tilted his head, "Who was it?" he asked.

Kilowog chuckled, "Me,"

Jack felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Arisia, "How did you do that?" she asked.

Jack shrugged," I remembered that on Earth there's a war there, and everyone, my friends my family, my race are all at risk because of it. I need to get stronger so I can help end it; I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines and not being able to truly help,"

He turned to Kilowog, a firm look on his face, "So do your worst, _sir, _I'm not quitting, not now, not ever,"

Kilowog grinned, "Glad to hear it kid, but you'd better buckle up, cause now the real training starts,"

_Five hours later…_

"Come on poozers you call that flying!"

Jack dodged under a series of green blaster bolts, cursing as one nearly hit him. For five hours they'd been keeping this up, flight practice, ring target practice. They'd only just scratched the surface of creating constructs. Jacks constructs according to Kilowog were strong, he just needed to focus more, otherwise they broke apart.

He still struggled with the more advanced machines, but he attributed that to his inexperience. In time he'd be able to form anything he could think of so long as he had the willpower to maintain it.

Jack flew through a ring, looping over and under it to dodge another series of blasts. For the last three hours it had been nonstop chaos, the two of them being forced to fly through a ring whenever it lit up green, all the while a series of drones chased after them, firing at them with stun rounds. They didn't actually hurt them, but they stung like crazy, and the two had quickly learned to avoid them at all cost.

"I've seen wingless doxarians that fly better than you!" Kilowog yelled from the bridge.

"He's just an all around pleasant guy, isn't he?" Jack asked Arisia as the two met in the middle, flying up and away from three drones tailing them.

She giggled and turned on her back, firing a bolt of energy at one of the drones, only for it to bounce off its casing. She frowned and turned around again, "I can't seem to get my rings blasts to hurt _anything!_" she yelled in frustration.

Jack turned on his back, and materialized a large shield, watching the blasts ping off it harmlessly, "Focus on someone or something you care for," he suggested, "Think of how it's your duty to keep them safe now. It works,"

She nodded and raised her ring hand, holding it steady with her free hand. Jack willed a small firing hole into his shield, and she fired. The beam lanced through one of the drones, and it exploded in a fountain of fire. Her face lit up in a large smile.

"I did it!" she cried triumphantly, spinning in the air. Jack blushed ever so slightly as her skirt flared upwards for a moment, looking away from her. Luckily she didn't notice as another group of drones descended from their left, firing a barrage of blasts at the two.

"You can celebrate later poozers, training ain't over!" Kilowog called out.

"I almost forgot how precious you could be in your natural environment," Sinestro said as he walked in.

Kilowog snorted, "Glad to see you finally decided to show yourself Sinestro," he growled.

"I had matters to attend to," Sinestro said absent mindedly. He looked up, watching as Jack formed a sword in his hands and sliced through a drone.

"How goes his training?" he asked.

"Honestly?" Kilowog said, "Kids got the willpower for sure, key is refining it,"

Sinestro nodded, his yellow eyes never leaving Jack, "Call him down," he ordered.

Kilowog looked at him suspiciously, "What for?"

The look on the Torugaran's face said it all, and Kilowog turned up to the two trainees, "Sector recruit 2814!" he roared. Jack practically tripped over himself in midair, before turning to his instructor.

"Get your rear down here pronto!" he ordered, pointing a thick finger at the bridge.

Jack looked to Arisia, who gave him a sympathetic look but said nothing. Almost reluctantly, the boy descended to the bridge in front of Kilowog and saluted, "Sir?" he asked warily, completely aware of Sinestro standing to the side.

"I'm turning your training over to Sinestro for the rest of the day, Guardians orders," Kilowog explained.

Jack gulped and looked at Torugaran nervously. Something about him unnerved him, like he was always judging him. He wasn't sure why though.

Kilowog turned from the two and resumed training Arisia, flying after her. Jack turned to Sinestro, noting he stood over six feet tall, and appeared more intimidating then Kilowog ever had.

"So…. are we going anywhere specific?" he asked.

Sinestro walked a fair distance away before turning to Jack, "I want to judge your skills for myself Earth-boy, see if you're worthy of that ring you wear,"

Jack looked down at the ring on his finger and back up at Sinestro, who materialized an elegant emerald blade in his hand. He held it out like a fencer, waiting for Jack to do the same. Jack shrugged and did the same, a simple blade appearing in his hands.

Sinestro stood at the ready, seeming to be unmoving except for the ever so slight trembling at the edge of his blade, a sign of pent up energy. Jack nervously watched the Lantern, when all his energy was suddenly released in a single overhand swing. His blade collided with Jacks, knocking it aside with a loud clang.

Acting on instinct and memories of adventure movies, Jack backpedaled away from Sinestro, regaining his stance. Sinestro pressed his advantage, and began pressing forward, raining a barrage of swift blows against Jack. He managed to block some of them, but several times Sinestro managed to land a blow on Jacks arm or leg, where he could already feel a painful welt start to form.

"You're afraid, I can feel it," Sinestro said as he continued to attack, "Fear of failing, or being beaten, but fear nonetheless. It weakens your constructs, makes you weak,"

Jacks construct shattered just to emphasize Sinestros point, and he stumbled back, landing on his rear. He rubbed his head and looked up to see a blade pointed at his throat, "Abin Sur was my mentor and friend, the fact that his ring chose you, a mere child, to replace him is pathetic," he spat.

Jack narrowed his eyes, feeling not rage bubbling up, but determination. Determination to prove this jerk wrong. Jack let out a yell, and a wave of green energy rolled out from his form, pushing Sinestro back. Jack stood and two new blades formed over his hands. They looked like Optimus Primes, even replacing his hands, but were green instead of silver and blue.

Jack spread them out and charged at Sinestro, attacking faster and with strength then he thought he possessed. Sinestro was temporarily on the defensive for a brief moment, though Jack failed to land a blow. Then, Jacks blades locked with his own, and they stood in place. Then, Sinestro shoved him back and a ring of green swords formed around him.

"You lack the creativity to use your ring. Following simple rules limits you, use your mind to think around situations that would not easily achieved without it," Sinestro tripped Jacks legs out from under him, blade on his throat once more.

Jack looked up the blade at Sinestro and scowled, "Again," he said.

Sinestro raised a brow, "I said again," Jack repeated.

Sinestro laughed and lowered his blade, "Your funeral kid,"

_Recruit Barracks Oa…_

Jack slowly slumped into the barracks, his entire body sore from his sparring with Sinestro. His entire body felt like it was covered in welts and bruises, and odds were he looked like someone splashed him with buckets of paint.

He slumped onto his bed next to his power battery, moaning loudly. If this was how his training was going, he was going to be in for a long week. He and Sinestro had gone at it sparring for a good three hours, Arisia having retired to the barracks half an hour before they finished. The sparring had basically ended the same way every time, with Jack flat on his aft looking up Sinestros sword.

He'd managed to actually hit Sinestro a few times, but it was obvious that he had a lot to learn. And learn he would, because even though the training was hard as nails, he wasn't going to give up. He hadn't given up on Cybertron when he was being swarmed by scraplets, he wouldn't give up now, too many people would be at risk.

Jack ran a hand over his face, and realized that he was coated in sweat. Making a face, he sat up and got up, walking down the barracks to a room labeled in an alien language, _Wash Racks. _He needed to clean up otherwise his acne would flare up, and he'd spent months cleaning it up, he was not letting it come back.

Had Jack not been caught up in his own thoughts, he might have heard the shower running, but he didn't so he when the door opened, he was caught off guard by the wave of heat that hit him square in the face. He was even more caught off guard by the sudden scream that emanated from Arisia.

"Oh Primus I'm sorry!" he yelled backing out of the shower, his fellow lantern covering herself as the door shut.

Once they were shut, he put his back against the wall, hand on his head. Had he really just walked in on Arisia in the shower? Had he seen her… He shook his head, now was not the time to think about such things, she was right there.

"Primus," he muttered, "What have I gotten myself into?"

**A/N: So begins the training. Sorry this chapter took so long guys, I had school interrupting me a lot. the Good news? I'm practically free for the rest of the week, so I may update tomorrow, but I will update Friday. So tell me, did you like or dislike this chapter? Was it good or bad? Let me know using that nifty review box below. And if you have questions or ideas, PM, do NOT leave them in the reviews, especially you guests, how am I supposed to answer your questions since you don't have an account to respond to? Anyway, hope you enjoyed, bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Star Sapphires

_Recruit Barracks, Oa..._

"Primus that was stupid," Jack said, resting his head in his hands.

He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even thought to knock on the door. Now Arisia probably thought he was some sort of perv. Right when he'd managed to start talking to her without stutters too.

And in seconds he'd managed to more than likely ruin their friendship, _"Smooth Darby, real smooth"_he thought.

He looked at the ring on his finger, playing with it slightly, another thought occurring to him. He'd only tried to contact his mother once, maybe if he tried again...

He raised his ring to his mouth, "Contact June Darby, Jasper Nevada, Earth, Sector 2814," he ordered.

**"Contacting..."**

_Earth..._

The garage rumbled close behind June and Arcee, the latter having insisted on returning her former charges mother to her home. June dismounted from Arcee, taking her helmet off and setting it on the work bench, next to Jacks, which was already starting to accumulate dust from disuse.

June ran a sad finger along the helmet, leaving a clean line in its wake. She looked at the dust on her finger and then the helmet, before letting out a small sob. There was a shift of metal on metal as Arcee transformed and placed a single servo on the woman's shoulder.

"June..." she started, voice quavering.

The woman brushed Arcee's metal fingers off her shoulder, "I appreciate what you and the Autobots do Arcee," she said, sounding on the edge of tears, "but please leave me alone. All you'll do... is remind me of..." another sob emanated from her.

Arcee withdrew her servo, "I understand June, if you ever want to come back to base though..." she turned to the garage entrance, and transformed, her Sadie hologram activating, "You'll always have a home there,"

June didn't move or say a word. She simply stood in place, her eyes glazed over with tears, "Be safe June," Arcee finally said. Then she drove forward out of the driveway, turning onto the street. The roar of her engine quickly faded as she returned to base.

Once the roar faded, June let out another sob, walking into her closed the door behind her, the eerie quiet of the house engulfing her. Normally there was some sort of sound filling the house, but without Jack... it was quiet, and lonely. She would probably sell the house in a month or so, no reason to keep it without Jack. Best to just leave Jasper, leave the memories behind her.

At the moment though, she went to sit at the kitchen counter, letting her tears flow down her face. She'd stayed relatively strong for the week it had taken to set up the funeral. Now though, she was letting it all come out. She struggled to breathe as her body was racked with huge wrenching sobs.

Jack had been the anchor in her life since his father died. She had felt week after that, but Jack had stepped up, taken care of her until she'd pulled her back together. The amount of guilt she'd felt for forcing him to mature so quickly still weighed heavily on her conscience. If she'd been stronger, maybe he'd still be alive. He'd have never met the bots, never tried to save Miko...

June suddenly clenched her fists, "_No"_she thought, _"Jack would have met the bots even if I had held myself together. It was in his nature,"_

She looked at the wooden block full of knives, _"It'd be best,"_she thought, her hand inching towards them. Her hand wrapped around the large meat knife, the one used to cut through steaks. She pulled it out and looked at her reflection on the steel edge. Her face was a wreck, her hair wild and untamed from being under the helmet, and her eyes were red and puffy again.

"I'll be seeing you soon Robert, Jack," she murmured, bringing the knife to her throat. Its edge felt cold and thin.

She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the handle.

Suddenly the phone rang and June's eyes shot open, her hand dropping to the table. She looked at the knife in her hand with horror, shoving it away from her as if it were steaming hot. The phone rang again and June picked it up, looking at the knife with disgust. She returned her attention to the phone, checking the caller ID.

_Unknown Number_

She raised a brow, and answered the phone, "Hello?"

All she heard at first was static that lasted for several seconds, "Hello?" she repeated.

The static continued before a heavily distorted voice spoke over the phone, and she thought her heart stopped, "... Mom... Jack... ot... dead... home... weeks... sorry," and the phone call ended.

June sank to her knees, clutching the phone as if her life depended on it. That voice, it had sounded like Jack, but it couldn't be Jack. He had died... But his body had never been found, had it? Could he be alive?

She looked at the phone in her hand, the dial tone droning at her. The Jack Doppelganger claimed that he would be home in a few weeks. She would wait two months, if nothing happened, she'd leave. There was a chance that this was just a cruel joke, but she hoped that it wasn't.

In fact, for the next few months that's what she'd do. She'd wait for Jack and hope. Of course, if Jack was going to come back, she knew exactly where he'd go first. Autobot HQ...

_Recruit Barracks, Oa..._

"Damn it!" Jack cursed, "I manage to finally make contact, and the message comes out half static,"

He sighed and ran a hand over his face, "It could have been worse," he muttered.

"Yeah, could have walked in on her in the shower too," Arisia said, rubbing a green towel into her hair. To Jacks utter relief; she was back in her uniform, though that didn't stop the blush from creeping onto his face.

"Sorry about that," he said, keeping his head turned away.

"Just knock next time first Jack," she ordered. She tossed the towel away, and it disappeared.

He nodded, "I was caught up in my thoughts, and kind of tired from Sinestro "Training" me," he explained.

Arisia smiled, running a green gloved hand through her moist hair, "Oh well, that makes sense. Doesn't excuse you for peaking though," she told him.

Jacks blush deepened and she let out a small giggle, "Showers yours now if you want. I suggest you use it now before it gets late. We have more training tomorrow,"

Jack straightened up and nodded, making his way to the wash racks, "Oh Jack?" Arisia said as he reached the door.

He froze and turned to her, "Yes?" he asked nervously.

He noticed the points of her ears had turned a furious red, "How much did you...see?"

Jack felt his face heat up and his heart beat faster as he remembered seeing her standing their shocked, too much exposed. He felt his blood rush south of the border, "I...nothing!" he said hurriedly, and slipped inside. He needed a cold shower.

Arisia blinked and looked at the door where he'd been a moment ago, "This is going to be an interesting few weeks," she muttered...

_Recruit Barracks, Oa, One Week Later…_

Jack sat next to his window that overlooked the Oan landscape. Arisia was taking a shower at the moment, and he was left to his thoughts. No matter how long he spent here, even after having gone to Cybertron and several other worlds in the Oa star system, the world blew him away. He wondered what his friends and family would think of this place.

Jack looked at his ring. "Ring connect me to June Darby, Jasper Nevada, Earth, Sector 2814," he ordered

A few moments passed before the ring replied, "**UNABLE TO ESTABLISH A CONNECTION**,"

Jack let out a frustrated sigh, he'd been unable to make anymore contact with Earth since his first day, "I'll keep trying mom, I promise," he muttered.

A beep came from his door and Jack looked up to see a light blink above the barracks door. He got up from his bed and walked over to the door. He opened it up and saw Ganthet and Sayd standing-or floating to be more precise- there.

"Oh, Guardians, I wasn't aware you were going to visit,"

"You may address me as Ganthet."

"And me as Sayd"

Jack nodded, remembering the two as being the kinder of the guardians had met, "You want to come in?" he asked.

"Yes."  
Jack stepped to the side, holding out his arm in a welcoming gesture to the guardians. They floated inside, and Jack followed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. The guardians didn't seem bothered by this.

"How are you?" Ganthet asked.

"Adjusting," Jack replied. "This world is unlike any place I have ever been,"

"Oa is certainly something special," Sayd said.

Jack looked up at Mogo, "And it still blows my mind that a planet is not only sentient, but a member of the corps,"

"The universe is a fascinating place," Ganthet said. "We have thousands of different races as part of this Corps. We even have robotic races as part of the Corps, different from the Cybertronians that you call friends of course,"

Jack nodded, "Of course," he was silent for a moment, and "I get the feeling that you two aren't checking here to check how I'm doing."

"You would be correct. We wanted to see your memories again, reaffirm what we saw," Ganthet explained.

"You saw most of memories, were they not enough?" he asked.

"Well no, but we only examined the bare minimum, not the emotions you felt at that time. I feel the emotions an individual feels during key events in their lives can tell you much about them. It is this I wish to see," Ganthet explained.

"Alright, do it," Jack said, giving permission to the little blue man.

Ganthet nodded and his eyes began to glow green. Jack felt his presence in his mind as Ganthet shifted through his memories once again. His first time meeting the bots, his abandonment and return, his confrontation against Airachnid, twice, and him stepping up when Optimus had almost been lost to the cons.

Ganthet pulled away, shaking his head to clear his mind, "That's why the ring chose you," he muttered, "You could manipulate will even without it,"

"Ganthet?" Sayd asked, worried.

"Jack Darby wasn't able to create constructs, but he was able to inspire will in those around him." Ganthet recovered himself and looked up to Jack. "The energies of willpower swirl around you and that influence strengthen those who fight by your side."

Jack hid his shock at this, and decided to change the subject, "What else did you learn?" he asked.

"That your planet may be facing a grave threat than we initially imagined," Ganthet said, "We will converse with the council on this matter,"

He nodded his thanks to Jack, "Thank you for your time Jack Darby, we wish you luck with the remainder of your training,"

"Thanks," Jack said. He had a feeling he'd need the luck…

_Oan Star System, outer planet, One and a half weeks later..._

"Come on Poozers, ya call that flying!?" Kilowog demanded, flying along the side of the rocky canyon that Jack and Arisia were flying through.

For a week after their training had started, it had been confined to the large training room. Kilowog had trained them on the basics, and they had shown considerable improvement, especially Arisia, whose constructs grew stronger with each day. Then, out of nowhere Kilowog had moved their training sessions to planets in Oa's star system.

Their training had grown more intense and cruel, as it seemed every planet in the system minus Oa, was a pit spawned horror trap. Whether it was a volcanic rock, frozen wasteland, or sand covered desert world, they were forced to use their rings to survive in ways they'd never imagined before.

Kilowog claimed this helped them to become more creative in the use of their rings, and taught them team work. Jack wasn't one to argue, because he did see the improvements that Kilowog had mentioned. His training with Sinestro had grown easier, and he actually managed to win some of his fights with the Lantern. He still got his aft kicked often, but he was getting better, and that alone boosted his confidence.

At the moment though, the duo was speeding through a massive canyon, dodging and weaving between towering stone pillars as Kilowog flung asteroids at them repeatedly.

"I don't get it," Arisia hissed, dodging an asteroid, "Why don't we just fly over the canyon!?"

Jack looked to her briefly, "Kilowog ordered us to, that's why. Besides, its all to prepare us for moments when we might need to move like this, "

Arisia crossed her arms as she flew, "Like when?" she asked.

A blast of green energy slammed into her back, propelling her into the canyon wall. She bounced off the wall, falling to the ground below. And she wasn't slowing. Thinking on instinct, Jack formed a large net under her, catching her in the air.

"Like now," Kilowog answered.

Jack slowly lowered Arisia on the ground, making sure not to jostle her. He turned to Kilowog and punched him with a large green fist construct knocking him back a few hundred feet.

"What the pit where you thinking!?" he demanded, "You might have killed her!"

Arisia slowly got to her feet as Kilowog floated back to him, rubbing his thick jaw, "She would have been fine," he assured Jack half-heartedly, "The ring keeps you safer than you'd think. Also..."

Jack was launched flying miles away as Kilowog slammed a massive green hammer into him. He crashed through several large rock formations, leaving a trail of rubble in his wake. When he landed, he crashed into a large mesa, the rubble burying him underneath.

Kilowog came to a stop above the rubble, a smug grin on his face, "See what I mean poozer?:

A large green blast of energy erupted from the rubble, blasting Kilowog back. Jack emerged from the rubble, climbing out over the rubble.

"We done Poozer?"

He wiped at his mouth and grinned, "Just getting started,"

Jack created a large green clamp to latch onto an asteroid, and flew up, before flinging it down towards Kilowog. The sergeant blasted it into dust with his ring, and was surprised to see Jack come barreling through the cloud of dust and hitting Kilowog with a hammer construct. Kilowog plummeted to the ground below, twisting in midair to face Jack.

He fired several emerald missiles at Jack, the ordnance leaving a trail of green smoke behind it. Jack formed a large green wall, absorbing the brunt of the attack while Kilowog landed on the ground. Jack dematerialized the shield and landed across from him, his eyes narrowed.

"You got spirit poozer," Kilowog admitted, "But if that's the best you could do, I'm a little disappointed in my teaching skills,"

Jack looked at his ring, "Actually," he said, looking to Kilowog, "I've got something I've been working for a while,"

He slammed his fist into the ground and the entire earth shook, "What are you trying to pull poozer?" Kilowog demanded.

A bit of ground burst upwards, and a large green humanoid insect, with long clawed hands and feet, dagger like teeth, and thick bulky arms crawled out of the ground.

"See, when I went to Cybertron I encountered a pretty nasty bug called an Insecticon" Jack explained. Kilowog took a step back. The Insecticon construct screeched and slammed a servo on Kilowog. The sergeant went down like a bag of bricks, and the Insecticon flung him away. Kilowog landed at Jacks feet and the Insecticon faded.

"I'm done," Jack declared, looking down at Kilowog, "Do you enjoy tearing us recruits apart like you do?" he growled.

Kilowog stood up, brushing some dirt off his shoulder pads. Arisia landed next to the two, a nervous look on her face, "Jack, you don't need to do this,"

"No I do," Jack said firmly, glaring up at Kilowog, "I can understand pushing us hard, but what you're doing is destroying us,"

Kilowog returned his glare, "I'll tell you what my drill sergeant told me poozer," he said, "If you're still alive and ring slinging a few years down the road, and are lucky enough to watch your family grow as you honor your oath, then you'll understand. But getting old in my corps is a privilege. We die so innocents don't have to; it's that simple. Once you put on your ring, the life you lived stops being your own. This is why I push my recruits."

"There's a difference between pushing us and breaking us down," Jack argued, "The rings chose us for who we are, yet you seemed determined to destroy what makes us, us. You should be teaching us to overcome our flaws and weaknesses, not trying to pound us until everything that makes us, us, is destroyed,"

The three heard clapping above them. They looked up and saw Sinestro hovering overhead, his face unreadable, "If that's the case then I believe Kilowog has done his job." he praised, floating to their level.

"What are you doing here, Sinestro?" Kilowog asked.

"There has been another attack,"

"Who died this time?" Kilowog sighed solemnly.

"Lantern near the frontier zone," Sinestro said, "odd thing is his ring never returned to Oa,"

"And I take it you wanted to investigate, and wanted to bring me as back up," Kilowog said.

"Actually," he started, turning to Jack and Arisia, "I wanted to bring all three of you as back up,"

Jacks and Arisia blinked in sync, the former pointing to himself, "Us?"

"Are there any others around I could be talking about?" he asked sarcastically.

The shock was evident on their faces, "Sinestro," Kilowog protested, "You know as well as I do that they're not ready to go out on patrol, and besides it's against regulations"

"I don't know about that Kilowog," Sinestro said, his tone calm, "The Earth boy seemed more than capable of handling you on his own, I think a simple patrol wouldn't be too much for them to handle," he looked at the two, "Would it?"

The two straightened, trembling with excitement, "No sir!" they said in unison.

"See, they seem willing and able. Besides," Sinestro added, "Regulations are more like… guidelines, not rules," he flew up, motioning for Jack and Arisia to follow

"That's where you and I see things differently pinky," Kilowog growled under his breath. But regardless, he did follow the three, and they shot off into the night…

_Frontier Space…_

The stars glittered like so much scattered sand in the night as the four Lanterns zipped through the cosmos, having left Oa far behind them. Traveling from system to system was a relatively dull process, as the vastness of space was just that. Vast. Very few objects existed between systems, so unless one could be continuously fascinated by the shining carpet that was space, many travelers, including the Lanterns found themselves bored.

Jack's mind wandered as they flew, drifting from subject to subject, but always coming back to his main problem. He had been gone for almost a month now, and if his mom hadn't been able to decode his message, then everyone probably thought he was dead. If they did really believe that, what were they doing now?

How had the bots taken his supposed death? Had Arcee cut herself off from the bots again due to the loss of yet another partner? Odds were that Miko was still her wild self concerning the bots, but had his death impacted her in anyway? He hoped so; maybe Miko was a little more responsible now compared to before. But this was Miko he was thinking about, so obviously it was a very faint hope.

The four Lanterns entered a fairly deserted system, a white dwarf resting in the center of the system, with a thinly filled asteroid field orbiting around it. This created a Saturn like ring if one were to look very closely at the star. Sinestros materialized a small device in his hand, scanning for the missing Lantern.

"Hmm that's odd," Sinestro said.

"What is it?" asked Kilowog.

"Ring signal is getting stronger, no it's moving at us," he said.

The device disappeared and his ring started to glow, "Brace yourselves!"

"For wh-" Jack was interrupted as a giant tendril wrapped around him, squeezing the air out of him. It was semi transparent, with white blotches traveling down it. The tentacle traveled up and attached to a large semi squid like creature. Seven more tentacles sprouted from its midsection, and engaged the remaining lanterns. Its large head had eight eyes, and its massive maw opened to reveal rows of sharp serrated teeth.

The giant squid like creature proceeded to wrap its remaining tendrils around Jacks comrades, who struggled to hold them back. Each one had a green clamp wrapped around a group of tentacles, holding them back. Jack himself struggled against the limb wrapped around his body.

Thinking quickly, he formed a crowbar that proceeded to pry at the tendril. With an immense force of will, the hold on him weakened, and Jack flew out of its hold. The tentacle closed on nothing, and the monster let out a frustrated roar. Jack wrapped a green clamp around its tentacles, and pulled back, trying to ease the pressure on Sinestro and the others.

Despite his efforts though, the tentacles continued to constrict them, pulling tighter and tighter around the group. Cracking sounds emanated from their constructs, and it seemed like this was the end. At least they knew how the last Lantern went. He was eaten by a large space squid, the usual way to go of course. He could see a faint green glow in its stomach, confirming his theory.

Another crack traveled across the clamps, and the tentacles pulled tighter. Seems like they'd be joining their fellow lantern soon. Arisia's clamp shattered, green slivers floating off before fading, and the rest of their constructs followed. At the last moment, Kilowog and Sinestro formed a sphere around them, but it wasn't going last long in the squid creatures embrace.

Jack thoughts raced as he tried to figure out a way to help them, since the squid was ignoring him. He didn't get to think much though, before several bolts of pink energy slammed against the creatures thick hide, causing it to shake its head in pain. Jack turned to see who'd fired, and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

Two beautiful women descended towards them. The first had soft blue skin and a tall elegant slender figure that curved in all the right places. She wore a pink top that exposed her stomach as well as an ample amount of cleavage. Falling from her hips was a long pink chiton, which exposed her legs in full, save for the pink boots she wore. Lastly a pink star shaped crown atop shoulder length black hair.

The one next to her seemed much younger, her skin was lighter and features far softer. She wore a simple pink one piece that left little to the imagination. Her short light brown hair came just to her neck and several faint tattoos were drawn from her eyes down to her delicate jaw. The younger woman was petite and softer than her leader, though her form was just as shapely. Jack's eyes roamed up her body from her bare slim feet to her head and he blushed and averted his eyes once he realized what he was doing.

Both were firing at the squid wanna-be, using pink power rings. "I thought only the core had power rings." he mused to himself.

The two mysterious ring bearers forced the monster to release Jacks comrades. The Green Lanterns disabled their shields before flying to the newcomers sides as swiftly as possible. Kilowog and the others seemed as surprised by these two women was Jack. Arisia seemed more stunned than anything, until she noticed where Jack's attention was. She promptly thwacked him over the head, swiftly bringing him back to his senses.

"Ow!" he yelled rubbing his head, "What was that for?"

Arisia crossed her arms and flew by him, deciding to follow Sinestro and Kilowog instead. Jack gingerly rubbed his head, confused by Arisia's reaction. After a moment he floated up next to his comrades as the two rescuers seemed to finish their work.

"So what are ya?" Kilowog enquired. "Pink Lanterns?"

"Not quite Green Lantern." the older woman said, her voice strong but almost seductive. "While you channel willpower the Star Sapphires channel and serve the cause of love."

The Star Sapphires floated ahead of the group, held their arm out before the monster and pink waves of energy cascaded over the it. It's tentacles drooped and it's mouth shut as it stared stupidly at them. Spinning around, the monster flew off making no attempt to attack the beings before it. The four Green Lanterns looked amongst each other in amazement.

Sinestro flew up to the Star Sapphires with the others tailing. "We appreciate the assistance. But what are you doing in this sector?"  
"This sector of space borders our own," the older woman explained, "but where are my manners. I am Aga'po and this is my niece Ghi'ata." She motioned to the girl floating next to her.

Ghi'ata placed a hand on her hip and looked at Jack, smiling playfully. He felt his cheeks warm up again, oblivious to the death glare Arisia was giving the two. Before she could say a word, the conversation between Sinestro and Aga'po continued.

"You are skilled with those rings of yours." Sinestro commented.

"Maybe they know something about the Lantern killers," Jack suggested. Sinestro turned to him and he shrank down ever so slightly.

Ghi'ata giggled softly, her voice sounding smooth like silk to Jack. "I would enjoy allying myself with you, Jack Darby." she said. Jacks cheeks flared bright red as the tip of Arisia's ears burning furiously.

Aga'po ignored the flirting focused on Sinestro, "We're close to our home planet, perhaps you'd accompany us for… Rest and relaxation, before we assume tracking these killers."

Sinestro seemed to debate this for a moment.

"A little rest would be nice, working these Poozers over takes a lot out of a guy." Kilowog pointed out.

"Very well," Sinestro said somewhat reluctantly, "We shall accompany you home but we do have Lantern duties to attend to."

Aga'po nodded, "Of course," she floated away slowly "if you would follow me."

_Zamaron…_

Compared to Oa, Zamaron didn't hold a candle. But then, maybe that's because it didn't seem to want to. The planet seemed mostly bare, covered with purple earth and towering mountains. The sky itself seemed trapped in a perpetual romantic sunset, which Jack thought was fitting given the cause the Star Sapphires served.

Then they'd seen the lake.

Its crystal surface glimmered under the setting sun like a thousand jewels woven into a thin sheet. Arches of purple and pink stone looped out of the water then back into the water, resembling stone serpents gliding through the sea. But what stood out most of all, was the floating palace.

A large chunk of smooth purple stone hovered inches above the lakes smooth edge. A miniature mountain range arched behind a gleaming white palace, creating a half bowl for the structure to rest in comfortably.

The palace was large, though not Oan large, with gleaming white towers decorating its walls, with a single staircase leading into a small gateway. The walls and towers all widened in the middle, before shrinking at the top. Jack could see more Star Sapphires walking along the top of the walls, and inside the palace. A group of four stood outside the gates, with long pink spears held at attention.

Jack realized they somehow wore less than their queen, and gulped. This might be a very long visit. Bad enough with Ghi'ata, he might suffer a stroke if he stayed here long enough.

Sinestro saddled up to Aga'po, "Why were you not surprised to see us near your sector of space? How do you know of the Green Lanterns?" his voice was loud enough for everyone else in the vicinity to hear.

Aga'po merely smiled, a smile that would reduce common men to jelly, "Long ago, we were of one race with your masters,"

Jack, Kilowog, and Arisia stopped dead, Kilowog and Jacks jaws dropped, "You and the guardians!?" Kilowog exclaimed incredulously.

"Thanks for putting _that _image in my head," Jack groaned. He no longer had to worry about that stroke anymore. Until Ghi'ata seemed to almost pout, and he felt his heart melt.

"Odd, I would not have assumed you and the Guardians were one," Sinestro said, giving Aga'po the once over, "Given your difference in… body type,"

"It was long ago. We took very different paths," she explained, " They refused to allow any emotion to cloud there judgment. We found this… Insufferable, and foolish,"

"That sounds like the Guardians," Jack muttered. Despite his meetings with Ganthet and Sayd, he was convinced that most of the Guardians were all emotionless, or as snappy as Appa. He could see why the Zamaronians had left.

The rather large group landed at the base of the palace, Aga'po leading forward while letting her hips sway. Jack would have been mesmerized, except he received another flick in the ear by Arisia, "Stop doing that!" he hissed. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We believe that only love can save the universe," Aga'po continued, leading them to the base of the stairs.

Ghi'ata walked up next to Jack, her hands crossed shyly in front of her, "Love fuels our rings," she said enthusiastically, "It's power is unfathomable,"

Jack wouldn't argue there, love had made him do some pretty selfless things… and some pretty stupid things too. His street race with Vince and Knockout to impress Sierra immediately came to mind, before he shoved it back into the crevice of his mind.

As they approached the steps, the guards placed a fist over their chests and bowed, "Hail Queen Aga'po!" they said in unison.

Aga'po ignored their declaration, and continued to walk up the steps, two guards taking up positions on either side of their queen. Jack gaped at the courtyard as he crossed the threshold of the gate. A massive purple pink crystal, shaped like a star, towered over them, the sunlight glistening off its facets, illuminating the courtyard with thousands of shades of pink.

Aga'po came to a stop in front of a staircase leading to a small platform with a single door leading in. He guards flanked her. She looked back at the group, "We will celebrate with a feast this evening, in honor of our newly formed alliance," she focused her gaze on her niece, "Ghi'ata, entertain them until then, yes?"

Ghi'ata bowed as her aunt walked up the steps, and turned back to the group, a slightly awkward silence filling the courtyard. Jack tried to break it, a job he often took, but had little success yet, "So… are we going to be the only men at this party?" he asked.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized how stupid they sounded and tried to amend it, "Not that I'm complaining!" his cheeks turned red as he realized what he'd said. There was a loud slap as Arisia slammed the heel of her hand into her forehead.

If Ghi'ata was put off by this, she didn't show it, "We of Zamaron find that life is more peaceful, and loving, when woman are in charge,"

"_If you only had met Arcee and Mom," _he thought to himself.

Sinestro looked at his ring, disinterested, "I'm going to report to the guardians," he stated.

"Kilowog, watch the trainees," he ordered. Arisia shot him a _very _pleading look, "Actually, Arisia come with me," he amended.

Jack watched them go, confused by Arisia's behavior. It was so unlike her, she was normally pretty timid but level headed. Now she was acting like the jealous girlfriends he'd seen at school. He decided that was a problem for another time, it was probably just a Graxonite thing.

He felt a sudden pulling on his arm and stumbled ever so slightly as Ghi'ata pulled on his arm eagerly, "We have some time before the feast Jack Darby," she looped her arms in his, "May I show you some sights?"

Jack felt helpless and looked to see if Kilowog was still there. But he was gone! The backstabbing drill sergeant had abandoned him! Jack turned back to Ghi'ata, a nervous look on his face, "S-sure," he said, cursing his stutter.

Ghi'ata smiled happily and lead him away down the hall, their arms locked like a happy couples. All the while, Jack couldn't help but wonder what he'd gotten himself into…

_Ghi'ata's Quarters…_

Jack followed the young Zamaranian Princess into her quarters and looked around somewhat nervously. The girl had lead him all around the palace, and gradually Jacks nervousness had faded somewhat. He was still feeling awkward around her, but he also felt more confident. Until she'd brought him here.

This was the first time he'd ever been alone in a girl's room before, with said girl, and considering the girl was royalty on this world, well, that made him more nervous. Back on Earth, at one point, he'd probably would have jumped at the chance to be in this position with Sierra, but now?

He figured he could do far better than a cheer-leader who didn't even know his name. That little stunt Arcee had pulled while Optimus had been a guest of the Decepticons hadn't helped his situation with that girl either.

But that wasn't important now. What WAS important, was the beautiful alien girl walking past him towards a table and a couple of chairs, carrying two thin glasses and what looked like a wine bottle filled with pink liquid.

She smiled at him sweetly, and he felt his cheeks heat up. His heart thumped rapidly in his chest, like he'd just run a marathon.

"Please, take a seat."

He did so.

Ghi'ata poured the liquid into the two glasses and took a seat next to him, she then offered one to him.

"Drink this, it will help you relax." She said in a soothing tone, Jack lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip. It tasted sweet, sort of like cherries. Pausing for a moment to consider his options, he shrugged and finished the glass.

She was right, he felt his nervousness vanish within moments, and a warm feeling settled over him. Ghi'ata smiled, it was working. She then reached up and took his head in her hands, Jack paused brought his hands up to catch hers.

"W—What are you doing?" he asked.

"Shh...don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." She cooed, before her eyes started to glow a faint violet color, he then felt her mind brush against his, and slipped past his mental defenses, for what they were worth. He wasn't quite sure how he felt with someone just going into his head and poking around. Ganthet and the Guardians had asked first, but this? He needed to set some ground rules.

After a few moments, the look of concentration on her face turned to one of confusion, and slight...hopefulness?

"You have yet to find your true love..." she said in that same soothing voice.

"_Is that what she was looking for?"_ he thought.

"Well, I'm only 16, that sorta thing isn't on my list of priorities at the moment."

She seemed to debate with herself for a moment, then pulled back her hands, her eyes returning to normal, her connection with his mind broken. She blinked once and then smiled again, that smile that always made his legs go weak and his heart beat faster.

"Have you searched for her?" she asked.

He blinked once, "Well, no I guess not really,"

She leaned forward ever so slightly, and his heart went from a jog to a sprint, "Perhaps you should begin looking," she said softly.

Jacks own body leaned in slightly, though he didn't notice, his mind was going foggy, "I-I should?"

She nodded, "Perhaps you wouldn't even need to look far…" she scooted closer, and her finger traced the blank circle on his chest.

Jacks lips felt very dry, and he gulped. Ghi'ata was very close to him now, he could smell her breath. It smelled sweet and alluring, like an exotic fruit, "H-how far would I have to look? Where would I look?"

Her lips practically brushed against his, "Here,"

They kissed…

**A/N: Hell of a way to end a chapter, eh guys….? Okay, sorry this chapter is so late, but as you know, went to phoenix, and then back. Five hour drive, would you be able to write out a full chapter? Anyway, I don't know when the next chapter will be, and given how I have come down with a case of "Kick your assitis" I may not post till Thursday or Friday, I apologize. But anyway, please leave a review, let me know what you thought of the chapter, and remember to PM me with questions and ideas, I'm always listening. Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Broken Hearts

_Ghi'atas Quarters…_

Their lips locked together, moving in unison as one. Ghi'ata leaned forward slightly as their kiss grew more passionate and hungry. Jack happily obliged her, leaning back on the chair. A part of him was saying that this was what she had planned from the beginning. Another part told that part to shut up and kiss the girl.

Jack had never actually kissed a girl yet, but if he had to guess he'd say he was doing a pretty good job so far. Eventually the two broke apart to breath, red in the face and panting hard. Ghi'ata smiled innocently and straddled him, resuming their kiss once again. Their lips moved together in unison.

That part of his mind said that she'd planned this also told him that maybe he should stop kissing her and try to meet back up with his other lanterns. But Jack paid it no mind, he never wanted this moment to end, he was in heaven. How many other guys got to kiss a beautiful alien girl? Not many he imagined.

Though Jack imagined that if his mom saw him right now she'd probably kill him… then use Dark Energon to bring him back… and kill him again. Arcee and Miko would probably kill Ghi'ata, and then help his mom kill him.

Ghi'ata suddenly broke the kiss, and despite his efforts Jack let out a disappointed moan. Ghi'ata giggled, "I'm going to take a quick shower then slip into something a bit more comfortable." she walked towards a crystal door, her hips swaying leisurely.

She looked over her shoulder, smiling seductively. Jack felt his heart try to beat even faster, "We can resume once I'm finished,"

The door opened and the Star Sapphire slipped in and the sound of water could be heard. Jack was left to his thoughts. With her gone he could think a little more clearly now, and wondered if the rest of the Lanterns where receiving such a warm welcome. He then thought about home and wondered how everyone was holding up, something he did constantly. He hoped that after this his training would be finished so he could head home. He liked Oa for sure, but he was starting to feel homesick and worried.

He was worried about the supposed lantern killers and what they might do to Earth, or even his sector. His responsibilities as a Lantern meant he had to care for everyone in his sector if need be. Earth was just his base of operations.

It wasn't long before Jack heard the shower stop. He checked his ring and saw that only five minutes had passed, "_That WAS quick..."_ he thought, turning back towards the bathroom door, a slight smile on his face as his mind began to wonder again.

Then the door opened...

And so did his eyes.

And his higher brain functions promptly took a vacation.

Ghi'ata was slowly walking towards him, hips swaying leisurely, smiling at him, her eyes swimming with amusement and a few other emotions he couldn't identify. She had a thick towel wrapped around her head as she worked her hands through it to dry her hair.

And. _Nothing._ Else….

_East Wing of the Palace…_

Sinestro and Arisia entered a large balcony overlooking one of the two permanent sunsets of the planet. The room, like most of the interior of the palace, was filled with pink and purple furniture and carpeting, crystalline chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. A section of the balcony overlooked the sunset, with a large pink chair in the middle with a coffee table sat comfortably in front of it.

Arisia wandered the room, biting at her finger nervously. She circled the room three times before Sinestro placed a steady hand on her shoulder, stopping her mid stride, "Stop pacing, it's distracting,"

She blinked, "I wasn't pacing!"

"What would you call walking around the room in circles then?

The tips of her ears turned bright red, "I, um…"

Sinestro chuckled, "The Earth boy will be fine, you don't need to worry about him,"

"Who said I was worried about Jack!?"

"You did, just now,"

"I… but…" Arisia let out a frustrated sigh and sat on the couch.

"I wouldn't be worried if it weren't for that stupid Ghi'ata!" she yelled, throwing her arms in the air.

"With her perfect body, innocent smile, smooth skin. How am I suppose to compete with that!?" she froze.

Sinestro shook his head, "Young love, so simple, yet so complex,"

Arisia looked up at her superior mortified, "I am not in love with Jack!"

"You are in love with him Arisia, or at least have feelings for the boy," Sinestro countered calmly.

"But I don't!" she protested.

"I've seen the way you look at him 2813, how you act. You've fallen for him, and hard,"

Arisia sighed, irritated, "Even if I was, why would you of all Lanterns be confronting me about it!?"

"Because if you and the Earth boy are getting involved, I want to tell you this," Sinestro said. Arisia looked at him, head tilted.

"Either confess your feelings for each other, or let your feelings go. In our line of work, beating around the bush is liable to get someone killed."

Arisia looked down at her gloved hands, silent.

Sinestro took her silence as a good enough answer, and looked to his ring, "Contact Guardians of the universe,"

The ring flashed green several times before, **"Unable to establish connection."**

Surprise flashed across his face, quickly replaced by irritation, "Why?" he demanded.

"**The signal is being jammed,"**

"By what?"

**"An unknown power source, resting in the center of the structure,"**

Sinestro turned to Arisia, who still sat on the couch, head in her hands, "Think about your love life later, we have a serious problem,"

She looked up at him, confusion written across her face, "We do?"

He nodded, "Come on," he walked to the crystalline door, "Time to have a chat with our hostess,"

Sinestro didn't even look back when he walked through the door. A moment later, the muffled sound of boots on carped were heard scurrying behind him. Arisia followed the Torugaran nervously to the center of the palace. The halls they walked through where pink and a thick carpet covered them, why, Arisia didn't want to know. The occasional vase on a pedestal carved from white or grey stone would litter the hall, but the halls themselves were bare.

Occasionally they would pass a scantily clad guard, who didn't even try to hide their interest in Sinestro. Sinestro ignored their looks, focusing on his immediate goal. He and Queen Aga'po needed to have a little chat. It wasn't long before the two Lanterns arrived at the center of the Palace. Two massive doors blocked their way, carved of pink stone. Symbols in an untranslatable language were carved into the door, flowing from one to another.

It was a beautifully crafted door, but they weren't here to admire it. They were here to talk with Aga'po. Sinestro pushed against the door, finding it lighter than it appeared. He pushed harder, and the door opened, revealing a circular room lined with columns of stone, and no carpet. A series of large pink stones rested in the center of the room, with a walkway leading up to a crystal throne, which Aga'po sat on, holding herself up regally.

"Green Lantern's, what a pleasant surprise," she said, straightening in her chair, "Is something the matter?"

"Something or _someone _is blocking my attempts to transmit to the Guardians," Sinestro stated, his face blank.

The queen put a hand to her face in shock, "This is terrible, and the other Lanterns, do they know?"

"I can't contact them either, but I was able to track the signal to this location."

Aga'po stood and strolled over to the two, "Perhaps it would be best if we found your comrades first, to alert them of this danger,"

Arisia could have sworn that she saw Aga'po's ring flash pink when she said that, but shook it off as a trick of the light, "That… would be best," Sinestro said in agreement.

Arisia sighed, "I'm going to go take a walk," she told Sinestro.

The Torugaran nodded, "Of course,"

"Do be careful though," Aga'po warned, stopping Arisia at the door, "You never know where the one who is jamming your rings may be,"

Arisia furrowed her brow, "I'll keep that in mind," she mumbled. The large door shut behind her, and the Graxonite began wandering the halls. As beautiful and lavish this place was she hated it. Everyone she knew was acting so strange ever since they arrived. Kilowog had vanished, Sinestro was giving out dating advice, and Jack kept staring at that floozy Ghi'ata!

She came to a stop on a balcony overlooking a massive courtyard. Large Pink crystals, taller and wider than she was. Several large spike shaped structures decorated with them, raised high from the ground, while more of the crystals practically coated the ground between them, creating a forest of giant pink crystals.

As pretty as the courtyard was though, an odd feeling emanated from it. Arisia narrowed her eyes and bit on her finger again, a nervous habit of hers, trying to figure out what it was. Something about it just didn't feel right. Feeling no harm in investigating, she lit off the balcony and drifted towards the first crystal she saw.

She froze about five feet away from it. A shadowy figure was frozen inside the crystal, its form distorted by the crystals facets. Its arms were spread wide as if it had been in pain or shocked before it had been frozen inside its crystal tomb. She scanned it with her ring, and it read that the life form inside was still alive. And male.

She scanned another crystal and found the same results.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Every crystal held a live male inside it, their outlines blurring the pink glow that emanated from each one. A disturbing thought entered her mind, "Ring, locate Kilowog,"

A low beep sounded from her ring, an emerald arrow materializing above it and pointing to the top of one of the spires. Arisia took off to in that direction, halting when she reached it, her eyes wide in fear and shock. Kilowog was frozen in one of the crystals, a stupid grin on his face. Arisia didn't have time to wonder about _why _he was frozen in the crystal, she had to get him out and warn the others.

Arisia was suddenly flung to the ground, her bare shoulder scarping against the dirt as she tumbled across the ground. She found her feet and stood to face her attacker, a Star Sapphire that looked like a female version of Kilowog in a pink bikini. She shuddered, that was a mental image she didn't need.

The Star Sapphire attacked her again, rings of pink energy rippling towards her. Arisia flew upwards, right as the energy slammed into the ground where she'd just been, kicking up dust and debris. She fired a series of emerald rockets at the Sapphire, who reduced them to green dust with a blast of her ring.

Arisia didn't wait for her to counter, instead charging straight at her. She formed a large battering ram around her body, and collided with her. The Sapphire went flying backwards end over end from the blow. She quickly managed to stop herself, and fired a pink energy at her. Arisia countered with green fire that sprung from her ring and slammed against the pink beam.

For several moments the two held like that, neither one giving ground. Arisia grit her teeth, desperate to hold back the Star Sapphires wrath. She had a duty to do, and letting her fellow Lanterns get turned into crystals was not one of them. With a shout, her green flames engulfed the sapphires beam, and she was knocked into the ground. She didn't move.

The Lantern landed a fair next to her limp form and scanned over her with her ring. She was unconscious but nothing more. Satisfied that she would live, Arisia turned to fly to Kilowog's crystal.

"Halt!" blasts of pink energy landed around her as two guards shot towards Arisia. She formed a shield around her to block the blasts, but could hear more guards converging on their location. She looked at Kilowogs crystal wistfully. If she tried to free him she'd more than likely be overwhelmed.

Several more blasts hit her shield. She let out a frustrated yell and flew away from the courtyard, "Sorry Kilowog," she muttered, "I'll have to come back for you,"

_The Palace Dining Hall…_

"What a surprise, Kilowog and the Earth boy aren't here either," Sinestro growled.

Aga'po had lead him into a variety of rooms in a search for his allies. They hadn't seen any sign of them. The room they were in now was a large hall, with a table that stretched down the middle. Pink chairs rested on stone floors, chandeliers of pink crystal decorated the ceiling, while large columns held up the roof.

At the moment, Aga'po was pouring a pink drink of some kind into thin elegant glasses. She turned to the Lantern, a sweet smile on her face, "Relax, we are bound to find your allies soon enough. I am the queen after all, and I always get what I want,"

Sinestro felt a thick fog start to roll over his mind, his thoughts clouding, "M-maybe…"

He never finished, as a part of the wall exploded outward. Aga'po dropped her glasses in surprise, and Sinestro turned to the wall, ring raised. He was expecting maybe one of the Lantern killers, or whoever was jamming their rings. He wasn't expecting Arisia.

The young Graxonite looked like she'd been attacked, with a several cuts covering her right shoulder. Her white top was covered in dirt, and her knees were skinned. She was panting slightly, her shoulders drooped.

Aga'po lowered her arm and glared at her, "What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded.

Arisia ignored her, "Sinestro, they captured Kilowog, trapped him in some sort of crystal!"

Sinestro turned to Aga'po, eyes narrowed. The queen brushed back a stray hair, "Do you honestly believe her words, for all we know she could be the one jamming your ring!"

Sinestro stepped away from Aga'po, standing next to Arisia, "I have more reason to trust a fellow Lantern then I do you,"

Aga'po sighed, "Very well. Guards!"

A dozen Star Sapphires entered the room, their pink spears pointed at the two Lanterns, "Capture them both," she ordered.

Sinestro and Arisia formed large green shields, just in time to stop the bolts of pink energy from hitting them. Arisia looked at Sinestro worried, "What do we do now!?"

"I'll hold them back for now," Sinestro said, "you go find the Earth boy, make certain that the Star Sapphires have not captured him as well,"

Arisia looked at him reluctantly, "I'll be fine," he assured her. She didn't move.

Sinestro snarled angrily, "GO! That's an order!"

Arisia lowered her ring arm, and her shield faded. Sinestro widened his own shield to compensate, "Find the Earth boy, free Kilowog," he ordered.

Arisia took off, flying down the halls. The sound of combat emanated from the room. Arisia fought the urge to turn back around and help Sinestro. They were too outnumbered here, she needed to find Jack. She just hoped he didn't get into too much trouble…

_Ghi'ata's Quarters…_

Jack gulped. Hard.

He was suddenly very thankful that he was sitting in that chair, as at that moment, he felt his legs go numb, at the same time he started to feel light-headed, as the blood in his feet and calves suddenly migrated north, and the blood in his head decided it wanted to take a trip south of neck-line.

He _tried_ to look away, but he couldn't. It was hard-wired into him by millions of years of biological instinct, that when a female so clearly broadcasts her receptiveness and open desire to mate, you didn't refuse.

"_Well...she couldn't have made her point_any_clearer..."_ he thought, as to his inner horror and self disgust, he found his eyes wondering. And he couldn't lie to himself, he liked what he saw. He _really_ liked what he saw. That tiny rational part of his mind screamed that she'd definitely planned all this from the start. But Jack didn't really care at all anymore.

Ghi'ata giggled and then slowly turned around, facing a wall mirror, then turned to face him, doing something similar to a ballet pirouette, making sure he saw everything.

Which he did.

How he hadn't suffered a stroke from lack of blood flow to the head, or a heart attack from sudden high blood pressure, he didn't know, but then he noticed she was looking him up and down as she walked closer. The smile on her face was one of approval, clearly she knew she'd had the effect she'd been aiming for.

"I've not actually...done this before...I—" but he was cut off as she gave a light giggle and placed a finger on his lips. She then leaned over and kissed him, fully on the lips. It was then that he noticed that she smelled like berries, or some type of fruit.

"_Did she use water in that shower or fruit juice?"_ he thought as he reflexively opened his mouth and let her in. She closed her eyes and hummed as she gently pushed him back into the chair, and slipped into his lap, straddling him.

"_Mmphm."_ She let out a muffled moan as she pressed against him, and even though he was sat down, he could tell that she could _definitely_ feel the evidence of his reaction to her current state, pressing...firmly...against the part of her body that ancient instincts told him was where it _should_ be.

His hands suddenly had a mind of their own, wrapping around her as his own eyes closed and the kiss between them deepened, her arms also folding around his neck. Considering this was his first time kissing a girl, he thought he was doing a good job, then again, this whole day was one of firsts.

His first time seeing a naked girl in the flesh, first time having a naked girl in his lap...He could feel the sweat on his head and back starting to build, ancient instincts awakening for first time in his life, but he _had_ to ignore them.

Then his hands started to move, and he couldn't remember if he'd told them to or not, they didn't drop below her waist, just rubbed her back, she moaned into his mouth again, taking in deep breaths as her hands started to roam too.

Then he felt her move.

Felt her rocking her hips against his, rubbing herself firmly against what he'd both hoped she _would_ and _wouldn't_ rub herself against, and he couldn't help himself, he put his hands on her hips, not daring to go any further, and pulled her tighter against his lower body. Their kiss broke as she then buried her face in his neck and moaned again.

"I find it hard to believe you are a novice..." she whispered in his ear as she started to rock against him more firmly, her breathing labored.

"Why...is that?" he croaked out. She giggled then brought her lips up to his ear and whispered.

"_Because...Green Lantern Jack Darby...You are doing a_very_good job."_ Her words were like silk, and Jack didn't know if it was the drink or the endorphins now swimming through his blood, or both, but he never wanted this to stop.

"_So...are you..."_ his barely functioning mind thought.

Suddenly, the door to her room was practically blasted off its hinges, flying over the two and out the window. They broke their embrace, Ghi'atas clothes suddenly reappearing on her form. Jack looked behind him as the dust cleared only to see Arisia standing there. She looked awful, like she'd been attacked, and she was breathing hard.

"Jack the Sta-" she froze as she saw Ghi'ata, still straddling Jack. An utter silence filled the room, no expression on Arisia's face. Without warning, she slammed a green clamp around Ghi'atas neck, slamming her against the wall on the other side of the room.

"Whoa whoa, Arisia, what the pit!?" Jack yelled, standing up from his seat. Ghi'ata clawed at the clamp around her neck, trying to pull herself free.

"The Star Sapphires captured Kilowog, and attacked Sinestro and I," Arisia said, still glaring at Ghi'ata, "This little tramp was trying to manipulate you so they could trap you in one of their crystals."

A confused look spread across Jacks face, "What are you talking about? I thought they were on our side!"

She shook her head, "It was a ruse, they wanted to earn our trust before backstabbing us,"

Jack seemed to debate this for a moment, "But that… it doesn't make sense…" the poor boys mind was racing as he tried to figure out this situation.

He looked from Arisia to Ghi'ata, "Let her go Arisia," Jack ordered.

She looked at the boy like he'd lost his mind, "Jack, are you out of your mind!?"

"Just do it," Jack ordered.

Arisia reluctantly did so, though she kept her ring raised and pointed at the Star Sapphire. Jack approached her as she stood, "Is what she said true? All of this, everything was just some… some trick!?"

The guilt on Ghi'atas face was all he needed to see to confirm it. He curled his fist and resisted the urge to attack her, "Why?" he asked. Ghi'ata blinked, clearly she hadn't expected this.

"W-what do you-"

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME!?" he screamed at her, causing her to flinch back, "You manipulated me, made me feel things I've never felt before. Why did you do that if you were only going to betray me anyway!?"

"I… I didn't I mean…" Ghi'ata seemed on the verge of tears. Moments earlier Jack would have wanted to do whatever it took to comfort her. Now he just felt angry at her crying. She'd manipulated his feelings, and yet _she _was the one crying!? He wanted to say or do more, but resisted the urge. It wouldn't be right.

Arisia placed a hand on his shoulder. Jack looked at her, the anger still visible on his face, "We need to go Jack, Aga'po sent her guards after me,"

Jack took a deep breath and exhaled. He seemed to calm slightly, and looked at Ghi'ata, "I never want to see you again. I don't know what it is the Star Sapphires stand for, but it isn't love,"

With that, the two turned and exited the room, leaving Ghi'ata on the floor alone, "Where is Kilowog being kept?" Jack asked. The two were walking quietly through the halls, taking pains not to alert the guards of their position. The sounds of Sinestros fight with the guards could still be heard. From the sound of things, it was not lasting in his favor.

"The courtyard, East wing of the palace," Arisia informed him.

Jack nodded, "Go and back up Sinestro, I'll get Kilowog,"

"No, I should go with you, you might get overwhelmed." she protested.

"And if Sinestro is overwhelmed, we'll be overwhelmed too," he countered. The two stopped at a crossroad.

"But if you help him, they'll divert more guards to Sinestro, allowing me to sneak into the courtyard and free Kilowog. Once he's free, then we can leave this place,"

Arisia seemed reluctant. Jack put a hand on her shoulder, the one not scraped up, "I'll be fine, just go help Sinestro, I'll see you in a few minutes,"

She suddenly embraced Jack in a hug, "Be careful Jack," she whispered. She pulled away and flew down the hall, while Jack stared after her. He shook himself.

"It's nothing," he muttered. He flew off down the hall towards the east wing…

_East Wing, The Courtyard…_

Jack shot into the courtyard, stunned by the number of men captured by the Star Sapphires. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands of them. All of them encased in crystal. He would wonder how they'd all been captured, but given how… forward, Ghi'ata had been with him, he didn't have to think all that hard.

He stopped in front of one of the larger ones, Kilowog barely visible inside. The stupid smile on his face was almost comical, if it weren't for the fact that he was being used as a battery for the Star Sapphires. Jack formed a large saw that began to cut into the crystal, ignoring the occasional chip that hit his face.

"Right where Arisia said you'd be," Jack mused.

The crystal groaned and the front part fell forward. Kilowog stepped forward and grabbed Jack on either side of his arms, "Galiel," he muttered dreamily, puckering his lips.

Jack leaned back, a look of disgust on his face. Luckily for both parties, Kilowog quickly snapped out of his trance, "Oh it's you," he said sheepishly. He scowled, "Why would you do that? I was so happy!"

Jack rolled his eyes, "Right, I'm the bad guy for saving you from being a battery for the rest of your life,"

He floated towards the exit, "Come on, Arisia and Sinestro need our help,"

Kilowog nodded and the two flew towards the main hall. Jack wanted to free the other men, but they lacked the means and the time to free them all. Perhaps they'd return with the rest of the corps and free them, but for now they'd have to stay imprisoned a little longer…

_Main Hall…_

Sinestro wrapped a rope around one of his attackers ankle, and twisted to his right. The guard flew through the air and slammed into one of the columns with a loud thud. He ducked under a blast from another, and slammed a green fist construct up, knocking the Sapphire out of the palace.

He'd been keeping this up for a good few minutes now, but the guards just kept coming. All the while, Aga'po watched from a distance, almost amused. She knew as much as Sinestro that without backup, he'd be overwhelmed. He growled to himself, wondering what was taking Arisia so long to get back with the others.

One Sapphire went flying when he blasted her in the chest. Then he received a barrage of blasts, each one coating him in crystal. His legs and part of his right arm were covered in the stuff, sealed to the ground tightly. Sinestros ring hand though, was not bound tight by them. He blasted the crystals off him, and resumed his battle.

Another blast joined his own, and he turned to see Arisia fly into battle. She formed a large mace and knocked two of the guards into the walls, and landed next to Sinestro. She joined in his defense, the two being forced back to back by the sheer tenacity and number of guards.

"Not that I don't appreciate the help," he started, a clamp slamming one of the Sapphires into the ground, unconscious, "But where are the others!?"

"Jack is finding Kilowog, we're acting as a distraction so he won't be stopped!" she replied.

Sinestro growled and formed a sword in hand. He lopped the tip of one of the Sapphires spears, before kicking her across the room, "He should have taken you with him!"

Arisia fired a blast at another guard, knocking her away, "He didn't want them to overwhelm you. Said if they did, we'd be overwhelmed before he could get to Kilowog."

Suddenly, a barrage of pink blasts slammed into the two, completely coating their bodies in pink crystals, "I believe you've injured enough of my guards," Aga'po growled, the sweet and seductive tone of her voice gone. Guards lay strewn across the floor, unconscious or injured. The walls were covered in cracks and burn marks, with shards of crystal strewn about the floor. Put simply, the room was a wreck.

She ripped one of the spears from her remaining guards and placed it under Sinestros chin, "We would have little use for one whose heart is so cold," she stated.

"And the girl?" he growled, staring defiantly at Aga'po.

Aga'po smiled softly, "She has a burning love in her heart, she would make a fine Star Sapphire,"

Arisia struggled against her crystal prison harder.

Aga'po pulled the spear back from Sinestros neck. Pink energy coalesced along the tip, culminating into a large pink sphere. Sinestro didn't close his eyes.

Suddenly, a large green buzz saw cut through the spears edge, severing it. The tip fell to the ground with a clang, before evaporating along with the spear in her hands. Aga'po and her guards looked up to see Jack and Kilowog floating above them.

"So I take it the whole, hunting the Lantern killers as allies option is out, right?" he quipped.

Kilowog slammed his hammer against the crystal encasing Arisia and Sinestro, "Thanks sir," Arisia said quietly, rubbing her arm.

"Guards, seize them!" Aga'po screamed.

"Time to fly!" Jack yelled. The others didn't argue, and the four shot out of the main hall. In a matter of seconds they flew through the halls and out of the palace flying upwards to escape the planet. The Star Sapphires were following in hot pursuit, firing at the group ferociously.

Despite their efforts though, the Lanterns were speeding ahead of them, the Sapphires dwindling into the distance. Jack smiled to himself. They were going to make it!

Suddenly, the massive squid like creature flew in front of them, causing the four to stop dead in their tracks. It let out a earth shattering screech, causing the four to cover their ears in pain. Then it wrapped its tentacles around the group, aiming to crush the life out of them.

The four used their rings to push them back, but to no avail. Like last time, the squid creature proved too strong, even with the combined might of four Green Lanterns. Jack grimaced as the tentacles closed in, and their shields cracked. He realized, as the tentacles crushed them, that the monster was probably used by the Sapphires to rope in unknowing travelers. That was how they filled their ranks and their crystals. They were essentially pirates!

Their shields were about to give way, along with their escape, when the creature loosened its grip on them. Its multiple limbs drooped to its sides once more. Pink rings flowed towards it, emanating from Ghi'ata, who seemed to be calming the beast.

Jack was astonished. After the harsh words he'd said to her, he never expected this. Ghi'ata turned to them, "Go, I will slow the Sapphires," she said, and looked at Jack, "You were right, Jackson Darby of Earth. The Star Sapphires lost their way."

Jack wanted to apologize to her for some of what he'd said to her, to say he was wrong. Arisia grabbed him by the collar and flew off behind Kilowog and Sinestro instead. All Jack saw as they flew off, was Ghi'ata turning to confront her aunt and the rest of the Sapphires…

_Deep Space…_

Jack and the others shot through the depths of space, silent. No one had much to say after that, there wasn't much to say. All Jack could think about, was Ghi'ata, and how lonely she seemed staying behind. Even though she'd manipulated him, Jack still harbored some feelings towards her. What they meant, he wasn't sure, but he hoped that she was okay.

She'd turned against her people, and it was all his fault.

_"Congrats Darby, first time out of system as a Lantern, and you managed to ruin someone's life," _he thought angrily.

Kilowog flew up next to him, clapping a large hand on his back, "Eh, don't feel too bad about what happened kid. You did pretty good all things considered."

Jack frowned, "But…" he started to argue, and then stopped. He didn't really have anything to say.

"In fact," Kilowog added, coming to a stop. Arisia, Jack, and Sinestro all stopped, floating a small distance away.

"I'd say you did good enough to graduate, ya poozers!" Kilowog exclaimed.

The two blinked.

He laughed, "Well, ya got anything to say to that?"

"I… no," Jack said. Arisia shook her head in agreement.

Kilowog smiled, "Ya saved are bacon back there, far as I'm concerned, you're both official lanterns!" he snapped his thick fingers, and the Symbol of the Green Lantern Corps appeared Jacks chest and Arisia's collar.

Jack looked at the symbol on his chest, and felt a large smile spread on his face. Arisia had a similar one on her own face as well. They'd done it, they'd finally done it! Through all the hell that Kilowog and Sinestro put them through, they still managed to get through it all. Now they both could go home!

"Of course," Kilowog added as if he'd heard their thoughts, "You also get to tell the Guardians exactly what happened, since you're all official and such,"

Their smiles faded. Reporting to the guardians. Suddenly, being a Lantern lost part of its luster. This was going to be a _long _report…

**A/N: First things first, I am never writing another smut scene like that again. That is the most I will ever write, period. That said, I hated this chapter. Start to finish I hated every second of writing this chapter. But tell me, what did you think? Did you or did you not like the chapter? Please let me know in the reviews. But I also want to say one thing to all my guests. Stop. Asking. Questions. If you can't take the time to create an account to PM me with questions, I can't take the time to devote my Authors Note to answering each little concern you have. If you want to point out good or bad things in the chapter, or ideas, fine. Anyway, I also have a small announcement. After the following chapter, I am returning to my work on Another Type of Alien Book 2, until Halloween. So, I'd recommend you read that, because it'll be a long time until Will of the Primes is updated again. Sorry, but that's how it goes, and I am not changing my mind. Anyway, PM me with ideas or questions, review with critique. Bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Homeward Bound

_Oa, The Citadel_…

"So according to your report, not only is the missing Lantern dead, but you were unable to recover his ring?" Appa demanded.

Jack and Arisia winced as Appa reminded them of their original mission. In all the chaos and confusion, they'd forgotten about the Lantern or his ring. Now it seemed that was coming back to bite them in the butt.

Since they'd escaped from Zamaron, the group had split up. Kilowog had gone to the barracks to ready a new batch of recruits that had just arrived, and Sinestro had a report of his own to file. This left Jack and Arisia alone to face the guardians wrath. That is, Appa's wrath, as the rest of the guardians had listened to their report relatively silent.

"Peace Appa," Ganthet said, interrupting the little blue mans rant, "While the lost of another Lantern is unfortunate, we must also take into consideration the fact that the Zamaronians, or the Star Sapphires as they now call themselves, have returned,"

Confusion swept over Jacks face and he stepped forward, "Wait, you mean that you didn't know they were that far out?" he asked.

Ganthet looked down at him from the floating ring, "Technically yes. The Star Sapphires broke off all contact with the Guardians billions of years ago. Perhaps it is time we made contact with the former members of our race,"

Appa scowled, glaring at Ganthet, "We have not needed the assistance of the Zamaronians since we founded the corps. Reopening contact would serve no purpose!"

"And what about all their prisoners!?" Jack demanded, interrupting them, "The Star Sapphires have thousands of men imprisoned in their palace, feeding off them like leaches! You can't tell me that you're going to sit back and let them get away with that!?"

The air in the chamber suddenly grew frightfully still, practically freezing over. Jack stiffened feeling the Guardian's minds brush against his. Not all of theirs, but a few. he should have shut his mouth. He was a brand new Lantern, and had just yelled at arguably some of the most powerful beings in existence. Not his smartest idea.

Arisia stepped up next to him, "He does have a point," she said nervously, probably afraid they might decide to smite her instead.

The tension in the air eased ever so slightly and she continued, "The Star Sapphires capture travelers to add to their ranks and power their rings. For all we know they could be planning a possible attack on the corps,"

Appa smirked, "The Star Sapphires couldn't possibly hope to match the might of the corps, no matter their numbers. Four of our number easily held them off,"

"Four of the best Lanterns the corps managed to delay a small number of their guard," Sinestro corrected, entering the chamber. He nodded at Jack and Arisia and looked to address the Guardians, "But we don't know their exact numbers. Are you willing to bet the lives of our corps members on an assumption that we are all superior to them?"

Appa glowered at Sinestro. From the look on his face, Jack had to guess that Sinestro often spoke out against the council. Now that the Torugaran wasn't always beating him to a pulp, Jack suddenly found that he liked the guy. They acted very similar. Neither one took scrap from anyone if lives were on the line. If he had to work with him maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.

"Perhaps it'd be best if we closed this matter for the time being," Sayd said suddenly said, giving Appa a disapproving glance, "After all, there is still another matter to discuss,"

Appa nodded, "Ah yes, the assignments of Lanterns 2814 and 2813 to their respective sectors,"

The Guardians peered down at the two, "Lanterns 2813 and 2814, would you please step forward."

They both stepped forwards, "In light of your recent service, and due in part to Kilowog's recommendations, you are both hereby promoted to the full rank of Green Lantern."

Jack had to work hard not to grin like an idiot. Technically Kilowog had promoted them already, but this was just more official. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Arisia had given up not trying to smile. This was a big day for both of them.

"That said," Appa continued, "There is the matter of your assignments," he directed his gaze at Jack, "Lantern 2814, you're first mission is to evaluate the Cybertronian war on Earth and provide assistance to the Autobots if need be,"

Jack felt a little light headed. He'd basically been ordered to help the bots fight in the war against the Decepticons. He'd wanted to do more for the bots, to be more than a liability. And now not only did he have a chance to do so, he was practically being ordered to. His day was going pretty good.

"1417 is also to accompany you as well," Appa added, "He is to bring his own evaluation on the conflict as well,"

Jack nodded. That made sense, the Guardians needed to know how bad the war with the bots and cons was. Having a third party involved would allow for an unbiased and educated opinion. Plus he trusted that Sinestro would make a good temporary partner.

Arisia coughed into her hand. The Guardians looked at her, "I would… like to request permission to accompany my comrades to Earth," she said stiffly.

Appa seemed confused by this request, but Jack thought he saw a faint smile on Ganthet and Sayd's faces, "And why might that be 2813?"

"With the Lantern killers still prowling the universe, there's still a chance that they could be ambushed," she explained. Jack noticed that the tips of her ears turned slightly red, and he wondered why.

The Guardians seemed to debate this momentarily before addressing Arisia, "Very well 2813, you shall accompany Lanterns 1417 and 2814 to Earth. Once you have arrived though, you are to head to your own sector at once, is that clear?"

She stiffened, "Crystal,"

"Well then," Ganthet said, clapping his hands together, "I believe it would be best if we allowed the Lanterns to depart," he looked at Jack, "We wish you the best of luck Jackson Darby, safe travels."

With that said, the Guardians floated upwards. The large dome of the citadel split open with a single encompassing hiss. Slowly it spread open, like the petals of a flower. The Guardians shot off into different directions across Oa.

Jack looked to Sinestro, "Well then Jack, time for you to head to your home," he said, lifting into the air. Jack lifted off the ground, before he realized something. Sinestro had called him Jack, not welp, Earth-boy, or scum. He'd actually called him by his name.

He smiled, things were just getting better and better. He turned to Arisia who was trailing behind the two as they flew out of Oa, "Now I get to introduce you to my family huh?" he asked smiling.

Arisia smiled weakly at him as they flew, though Jack didn't notice. She was happy he was going to go home for sure. But Lanterns sometimes worked full time in their sectors. She may never get to see him again. As much as she hated to admit it, she liked Jack, _really _liked him. But now, if he went home…

She shook her head as they flew, Oa fast becoming a speck behind them. Arisia was just being selfish. She and Jacks sectors were right next to each other, they'd get to see each other again. She was sure of it…

_Asteroid Belt, Sol System…_

Three gleaming green lights came to a stop in the Sol System asteroid belt. Jack was surprised to see that despite what the media liked to believe, the belt was fairly devoid of asteroids of any kind. He'd only seen three when they first entered the belt, and now saw no signs of the belt anywhere else.

In fact he didn't even know why they'd stopped, Sinestro had ordered them to, but never explained why.

"Any particular reason you wanted us to stop?" Jack asked.

Sinestro formed a large green probe with his ring. It was about twice as large as Jack, and completely spherical. Several dishes rose from its form but besides that it remained fairly bare.

"I'm setting up a communications probe," he explained, "to help compensate for the interference that seems to surround your planet,"

Jack nodded and looked at his ring. He'd attempted to contact the bots every day since he'd awoken. Only once had the ring made a stable connection. Perhaps if he tried again…

"Come on," Sinestro said, motioning for them to follow, "That should hold until Salaak is able to send out a proper probe,"

The three shot forwards once more, past the remaining asteroids, past Mars. They were on a course to Earth. Jack saw the blue and green orb start to appear in his vision, tiny at first, but steadily growing larger. Slowly, the planet grew larger and larger until it dominated his vision.

A feeling of longing grew in Jacks chest as the planet rotated ever so slowly. He hadn't realized how homesick he was until he actually saw his home. Now that he saw it, he wanted nothing more than to go straight to base, let everyone know that not only was he alive, but in better condition than he'd ever been in before.

Jack let out an irritated growl as Sinestro came to another stop, orbiting Earth, "That's strange," he muttered, ignoring Jacks irritation.

Arisia drifted over to Sinestro, who was examining his ring, "What's odd?" she asked curiously.

"My ring just picked up several energy signatures on this planet. A large cluster in the Eastern hemisphere along a large mountain range and two somewhere in the western hemisphere."

Jack examined his ring, a small holographic screen appearing before him, "These signatures… It's the Autobots!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Sinestro and Arisia looked at him confused, "The Cybertronians? Why are they so spread out?" asked Sinestro.

"Well it seems," Jack started, "That this larger cluster might be Team Prime fighting the cons in the Himalayas, and the other two might be an Autobot on patrol,"

Sinestro rubbed his chin thoughtfully for several moments before speaking, "Arisia, you and Jack should head to the two Autobots, I'll head to this larger cluster,"

"Whoa wait," Jack protested, "Shouldn't we stick together?"

"Ordinarily yes," Sinestro replied, "However, I have an odd feeling about those two signatures. If they were on patrol, they should be moving. Yet, they've remained in the same location with little movement,"

"Which means?" Arisia asked.

"Which means there might be more to those signals then meets the eye," Sinestro answered.

Jack nodded in agreement. Now that he thought about it, that made a lot of sense. Maybe the bots had been unintentionally separated. But still, Sinestro shouldn't go alone. He decided to voice his thoughts.

"You have a point Sinestro, but shouldn't Arisia go with you? The group you're going to is _much _larger. I think I can handle a single con alone," he said confidently.

"Very well," Sinestro said, "We'll stay in contact with our rings, should you need help contact us."

He motioned for Arisia to follow him. The two dove through the air in the direction of the signal, leaving Jack alone.

"You too!" he called after them. They were already too far to hear him, but he felt better for saying it.

He looked at the coordinates on his ring and towards the its direction on Earth. The location of the coordinates was just starting to fall into the dark side of the planet, it would more than likely be twilight there.

"Well Jack," he muttered to himself, "Time to introduce yourself."

He felt his mask reform on his face. He didn't force it away, it felt fitting for some reason. He rotated towards the coordinates, holding his arms in front of him. The green aura surrounding him intensified, and he blasted forward, disappearing into the night…

_Himalaya's…_

Arcee rolled behind a boulder right as Breakdown's rocket obliterated the spot she had just been standing at a moment ago. She peaked over her cover to see Breakdown and Knockout slowly inching back towards the ground bridge.

The red con held a small device in his hand that was projecting a large force field in front of them Every time one of the bots fired at the two, its surface rippled. Almost like the surface of a lake when a stone was thrown into it. But that wasn't Arcee's main focus.

Her main focus, was the large golden hammer in Breakdowns servo. The forge of Solus Prime. It was said that the device was capable of crafting any device imaginable. And right now the cons had it in their possession.

Arcee cursed their luck. The forge was the only thing that could have replaced Bumblebee's missing T-Cog. Two days ago, the scout had been attacked by the terrorist group MECH, who stole his T-Cog, the device that allowed all Cybertronians not only the ability to transform, but the ability to use their weapons as well.

Optimus fired a blast at Knockout. Once more it rippled against his shield, but did not touch them. Knockout let out a mocking laugh, "It just isn't your month, is it Autobots!?" he taunted.

Arcee clenched her servos angrily, "First you lose your human pet, then you lose your scout, and now you lose the forge!" he yelled cockily, "How pathetic!"

Optimus looked across the clearing at Arcee. The three of them, Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee, were pinned behind two large boulders on a large overhanging cliff. They were easily several thousand feet up, evidenced by the copious amounts of snow that covered the mountain.

But that wasn't the Primes focus. His focus was on Arcee, whose entire chassis was trembling with anger. Knockouts words while simple, had to have cut deep for the femme, who was still grieving over Jacks death no matter how often she tried to deny that. Knockouts taunt had made her angry.

"Arcee, do not break cover, I repeat-" he was too late.

The femme ignored her superiors orders, leaping over her cover and sprinting at the two cons arm blades deployed. Knockout pushed the shield at her, and his jaw dropped as Arcee leapt over it, twisting in the air. Her pede collided with Knockouts faceplate, sending him stumbling backwards.

He placed a servo on his faceplate, which was his first mistake. The second was lowering his shield, allowing the remaining Autobots to surge forwards. Arcee meanwhile kicked the side of Knockouts helm with a spinning roundhouse. He grunted and collapsed to the ground, holding his helm.

"Never talk about him that way. He was twice the mech you'd ever be!" Arcee snarled, her blasters pointed at his faceplate.

Suddenly Arcee's side went numb and her world view went spinning. It took her a moment to realize that she'd let her own guard down, letting Breakdown slam the forge into her midsection. She crashed into the ground and skid towards the edge, her senses going wild. She was dimly aware though that she was about to plummet off the edge. She heard Optimus and Bulkhead calling out to her, and likely chasing after her, but they sounded far away. Breakdown must have hit her hard.

Suddenly she felt the ground give way beneath her and the wind buffeting her form as she fell, _"Just like Jack," _she thought weakly.

And just as suddenly as she'd fallen, she stopped. Her optics shot open as she realized she wasn't offline, and that she hadn't hit the ground, at least she didn't think so. She propped herself with her right arm, the left one feeling limp, and looked to see she was on an emerald green platform. She could see through it despite the tint, and realized that she was moving up.

"What in Primus?" she muttered. She looked up to see something she really wasn't expecting.

A purple man dressed in a green and black suit seemed to be projecting the platform under her, and was flying back towards the battle. A girl about Jacks age was flying next to him wearing a white tank top and green skirt. She wore green gloves and boots too. Both had the same symbol on their outfits, a green circle with a line atop and below it.

Arcee had seen strange things in her travels across the galaxy, but this had to be the strangest yet. Oddest part though was that the platform seemed to be emanating from the purple mans ring that he wore.

"Who are you?" Arcee asked as they quickly ascended the mountain. She'd fallen farther than she thought.

"Sinestro, Lantern 1417 of the Green Lantern Corp," the purple man answered. He motioned to his associate with his free hand, "This is my associate, Lantern 2813 Arisia."

They reached the mountain edge before Arcee could ask them any more questions. She turned to see that all combat had frozen at the sight of the odd trio. Breakdown and Knockout especially seemed shocked, while Bulkhead and Optimus seemed relieved that Arcee was relatively unharmed.

The platform under Arcee suddenly vanished and she realized she was sitting on the stone floor. She quickly got to her feet while the man named Sinestro and Arisia surrounded Knockout and Breakdown. The two cons seemed confused by the appearance of these Lanterns, while the Lanterns seemed to be examining them.

"So these are the Decepticons?" Sinestro said in wonder, "I expected something… bigger,"

"Hey!" Breakdown yelled angrily, "You're one to talk fleshy, hardly bigger then a human,"

He hefted the forge, glaring at Sinestro daring him to make a move. Sinestro was almost amused, "That's quite a hammer you have their," he praised.

Breakdown was taken aback by this sudden complement, his single optic blinking in surprise. Then Sinestros face darkened, "Mines bigger,"

Before anyone could say anything, Sinestro formed a massive hammer, large as Breakdown, out of thin air. Its pommel rested comfortable between his hands, yet the head was large enough to crush the cons before him. Instead, Sinestro hit the two cons with enough force that the two of them went flying through the air, colliding with another mountain side.

The Forge of Solus Prime clattered against the floor expectedly in front of the Ground bridge. The bots paid it no attention, instead staring at the two lanterns in shock, "How did you do _that_!?" Bulkhead exclaimed, jaw hanging.

Sinestro and Arisia grinned slightly, "Once our comrade has finished his assisting the other Autobot on planet, all will be explained," he said.

Optimus looked at the two confused, "You must be mistaken, all remaining Autobots are hidden at base."

"Not so, we detected two energy signatures similar to yours outside of your bases general location," Sinestro explained.

Arcee narrowed her optics, suspicion growing, "How do you know our bases location?" she demanded.

"Please, just be patient, we will explain everything once 2814 is finished," Arisia pleaded, "We just ask for your patience."

Before anyone could respond to her, Optimus received a communiqué, _"Optimus," _the gruff voice of Ratchet, the team medic said, "_We have a problem."_

_Secret MECH facility…_

"One more step Autobot, and your precious T-Cog is scrap!" Starscream threatened.

Bumblebee took a hesitant step away from the seeker, servos raised in a calming gesture. He should have waited for Optimus to get back from base. It was a mistake to come here alone, June and the kids had warned him about that. But he'd been desperate to get his T-Cog back, to drive once again.

After losing it he'd felt useless at base, even more so. It was bad enough he couldn't talk, but losing his wheels… That had made him feel like a walking engine, sucking in Energon without bringing anything to the bots. At least with his T-Cog he was fast and able to fight.

"Ah that's better, isn't it?" Starscream rasped. His involvement with MECH had surprised Bee to an extent but not that much.

"Now then, you are going to let me go, or I will turn your precious T-Cog into a smoldering wreck," the seeker growled.

Bee's optics widened in fear and Starscream chuckled, slowly inching towards to door. Bee thought it was his optics playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn the outdoor area seemed green tinted.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Starscream said, turning to flee, "I have a plane to catch."

He ran towards the entrance, only to run smack dab into a large semi-transparent green wall. He bounced off it with an audible _boing _and landed on his aft, Bee's T-Cog still clutched in his servo.

He shook his head "What the!?"

"Put the T-Cog down Starscream,"

Bee's optics widened further. That voice. He knew that voice but… it couldn't be. That person had died over a month ago, they'd all seen it. But they'd never found the body, had they?

Bee watched as a lone figure floated into the large hangar, pointing a glowing green device at Starscream. The seeker snarled, "And who are you to make me human!?"

What happened next shocked Bee and Starscream. A giant green glowing hand wrapped itself around the seekers torso, the con letting out a startled squawk, "W-what the!"

The figure brought Starscream eye to optic, "Drop. The. T-Cog." he growled.

Starscream let out a frightened whimper, and the device fell from his claws. It bounced across the concrete floor with a hollow _dink, dink_ and rolled on its side to Bee. The scout picked it up and cradled it close to his spark, relieved to find it unharmed.

The figure tossed Starscream out the doorway, "Get out of here," he ordered.

Starscream stared at the human for a brief moment. Anger slowly etched itself onto his face, "YOU DARE TO ORDER ME!? FILTHY ORGANIC!?" he fired a missile at the human, which exploded.

Bee let out a series of worried beeps and whirs as the rescuer was engulfed in smoke. If he had been who he thought he was… he was certainly dead now.

"Nice try Screamer," the smoke cleared revealing the figure unharmed, a glowing green energy shield enveloping him.

He raised his fist and threw it forwards, a long green whip entangling Starscream. His arms and legs were pinned tightly to each other. He flew out of the hangar and twisted in midair. The line snapped taught and Starscream screamed as he was flung off into the distance. An audible thud echoed through the forest as he landed.

The figure turned back to Bee who was finally able to get a good look at him. He wore a black, skin-tight full body suit, with dark green sections across the shoulders and upper chest, with a white circle emblazoned in the middle of the chest, and a green symbol, comprising of a ring inset between two horizontal beveled lines.

He also wore boots that were the same shade of green as the chest guard and insignia, and they seemed to be fused to the legs of the suit. On his arms, he also wore metal arm guards that were the same dark shade of green, and what seemed to be a dark green metal ring on his right middle finger, with the same insignia embossed on it. As if to complete the look, a green mask adorned his face, his eyes were pure white.

The figure smiled and Bee knew without a doubt that this figure was who he thought he was. But he had no time to state it for all the good that would do. Suddenly a Ground Bridge opened up and Team Prime exited, Optimus leading the group. Bee's door wing's drooped at the look on his faceplate. He was less then pleased.

"There will be a time to discuss your actions later Bumblebee," Optimus said, his tone dry.

He looked down at Bee's ally, "You are Green Lantern 2814?"

Bee looked at the bots shocked, his own words refusing to work. How did they not recognize him? Had they really forgotten what he looked like that fast!?

Green Lantern nodded, "I am," he said. He looked like he was hiding a grin.

"Come with us," Optimus said, "your comrades are back at base."

_Autobot HQ…_

June looked up at the three Lanterns floating overhead and talking briefly. She wasn't sure what to think of them though. Sinestro seemed a bit too mysterious to her, as if he had ulterior motives or secrets. Arisia seemed young and rash, but also had an air of intelligence to her. But the Lantern known as 2814 confused her.

She couldn't quite figure out why, but he seemed really familiar. His movements, his voice, all of it seemed familiar. And it was driving her insane. She wanted to know who this person was and why she felt a sad ache in her chest every time she saw him.

The three seemed to finish their conversation and 2814 descended from the sky towards the three humans. June stood in front of the kids warily, and the bots all seemed to tense, minus Bumblebee who was currently in surgery getting his T-Cog replaced.

2814 stopped in front of June and smiled. June knew that smile, she'd seen that smile for the past 16 years. It was practically ingrained in her memories. She felt her heart ache and a small sob escape her lips. The mask 2814 wore vanished, and the air in the base grew unspeakably quiet.

Jack rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Hey guys...sorry I'm late..." he mentally cringed at the quip, he knew he had some explaining to do, and was in for a real earful from his mother, and his partner.

June stepped forward as she stared at her son, who for the past month, she had assumed was dead. Only the message she'd received over three weeks ago had kept her sane, a small little glimmer of hope that sustained her through the weeks. She never expected it to actually come true though, and that thought that it wouldn't had lead to many lonely nights of despair.

Though Arcee hadn't been much better. The stress of losing a third partner had nearly robbed her of her sanity, and Optimus had been worried she'd fall back into the isolationist mindset she had after Tailgate's death, since the amount of time between Cliffjumer's death and her meeting Jack had not allowed her to regress, but this past month? Everyone had taken it pretty hard.

_"J-Jack?"_June breathed, her eyes wide, not daring to hope he was actually there, and instead thinking she'd finally snapped.

"I'm here mom." Jack said, his gaze roaming over the faces of the assembled team.

Miko and Raf's faces were white as snow, as if they'd just seen a ghost. The bots were all staring at him, Arcee and Optimus in particular, had very surprised, and in Arcee's case, almost broken, looks, Jack winced...yeah...he should have come back sooner, they'd probably already had his funeral or something.

June stepped forwards, reaching out to tentatively touch his cheek, when she felt his warm, living skin under her trembling fingers, she let out a barely restrained sob as her resolve finally gave and her face contorted in a mixed look of grief, disbelief and happiness.

"_Jack!_" she sobbed as she hugged him, burying her face in his neck. Jack held her, gently stroking her back as he hugged her tightly, letting her cry against him. When she pulled away and looked at him, his blood ran cold. The look in her eyes was one of utter fury and betrayal, a look he'd only seen one other time, the day his father walked out on them.

"_How_...could..._you_..._HOW...COULD...YOU...DO THAT TO ME JACKSON ROBERT DARBY?!_" she screamed at the top of her lungs, she started to pound her fists on his chest, as her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees in a heart-wrenching wail, still pounding her fits against his uniform, as she finally wrapped her arms round him and buried her face in his mid-section, just below his chest.

"You..._Idiot! Don't you EVER do that to me again!" _she half whimpered, half snarled, "...We thought you were dead..._I _thought you were _DEAD!_" she continued to moan, not even caring that she was having a full-blown melt-down, after all, she'd had one a month earlier.

"Oh no, he wasn't kidding about how worried his mother would be," Arisia muttered.

"Evidently." Sinestro replied, both keeping a respectable distance.

The floor shook as Jack looked up and saw Arcee step forwards next, fire burning in her own Optics.

"Explain." she snarled._"Now."_

Jack could see her fists were clenched, and her whole frame was visibly shaking. She was _PISSED._

Jack gulped, still holding his mother, he scratched his head. June had stopped moaning and was just sniffling, know kneeling fully on the soft grass.

"Well...remember when Knock Out tossed me over that cliff? Well, on the way down, I saw this strange green light coming towards me, I figured that was it...then when I next woke up, I was in this strange hospital bed. Surrounded by all these people that I didn't recognize, to be honest, I thought I really _WAS _dead, since none of these people were human..." he paused, remembering his first day on Oa, well, when he first woke up.

"A Lantern, came up to me when he saw I was awake, and told me that I was really lucky to be alive. He said whatever had hit me broke quite a few bones, punctured one of my lungs." He paused as he felt his mom stiffen in his arms as he sank down to one knee and wrapped both his arms around her.

"He said that the ring that had come to me had kept me alive long enough to transport me to Oa, but it wouldn't have kept me alive indefinitely, not with my injuries." He then paused, remembering what else had happened during that week.

"At first I didn't know where I was, or what was going on, the medic explained that I was on Oa, the home-world of the Guardians, and the base of operations for the Green Lantern Corps."

"The what now?" Bulkhead asked, looking between the other bots, confused, the only one who didn't look confused was Optimus, and Jack had noticed, if anything, the look on the Prime's face was almost one of...recognition?

"And just _WHO _are these _Guardians?_" Arcee asked, sounding very skeptical. She'd never heard of a Green Lantern Corps during her travels across the galaxy, and certainly never of any race referring to themselves as the "Guardians".

Jack focused his eyes on the Prime, watching his faceplate carefully as he spoke.

"The Guardians of the Universe are an immortal race of Telepaths, that for billions of years, have watched over the different galaxies, and protected them, acting as diplomatic peace keepers and protectors, and the Green Lanterns, I guess you could say, are the ones who enforce universal, and local law. Basically, they're a police force."

"Preposterous!" Ratchet snapped. The others looked at him, the two other aliens standing behind Jack, appearing to wear identical uniforms, both looked at him oddly.

"Where were these supposed _Peace Keepers _during the War for Cybertron?! Did it ever occur to them that _We needed HELP?!"_the medic ranted.

"The Guardians didn't know Cybertron existed, nor did they know about Earth, until I got there."

"But how could these Guardians have never heard of Cybertron, if the war eventually spread to other planets?" Raf asked.

"That's where my theory comes in." Jack answered

"What theory?" Arcee asked, arching a optic ridge and putting her servos on her hips.

"That the _reason _the Guardians didn't know about Cybertron or Earth, was because of the influence of the two gods residing at their respective cores. The Guardians might be immortal, and one of the oldest races in the universe, perhaps second only to life on Cybertron, or at least, Primus and Unicron, but they're still not gods."

"Who _ARE _you guys, anyway?" Miko asked, looking between Sinestro and Arisia

Sinestro answered her question, "Sinestro, Lantern of sector 1417, and Arisia, Lantern of Sector 2813. Jackson is the new Lantern of Sector 2814."

"What happened to the other one?" Miko asked. She lacked the eagerness that had defined her for as long as Jack had known her. He realized that his "death" had probably hit her hard.

"Abin Sur was the Green Lantern charged with patrolling and guarding this Sector of Guardian Space, but he was killed several days prior to Jack's arrival on Oa."

"How many Green Lanterns are there?" Optimus asked. Sinestro met the Prime's gaze, he saw fierce determination and compassion in the machine's Optics, emotions he never thought he'd see in a robot, despite what Jack had told him.

"There are thousands of us. Each one charged with guarding a specific area of space, each area, or Sector, comprises hundreds of Star systems, there are 3600 Sectors in all, each one has a Lantern to protect it, but there are also the Honor Guard, the elite ranks of the Corps that are not tied to any one Sector."

"Still!" Ratchet scoffed, "If there are as many of these Guardians and Lanterns as you are implying, because they'd have to be _A LOT _of them to monitor the entire universe, SURELY a Cybertronian would have met _AT LEAST_ONE over the last several hundred thousand years, since Cybertron went dark and it's surviving population scattered to the stars."

Jack shrugged, "The universe is a big place Ratchet, it's more than possible that a Lantern never encountered one. Aren't there still the occasional new species being discovered?" Jack asked Sinestro.

"Occasionally," he admitted.

Jack thought he saw a look pass over Optimus Primes faceplate again, but brushed it off as a trick of the light. Instead the Prime spoke, "How is one brought into the Lantern Ranks? Surely a child wouldn't be suitable to serve in an intergalactic force of peacekeepers,"

Jack frowned at that, he thought Optimus of all people didn't consider him a child, "Children in the corps are rare," Sinestro admitted, "However they are not unheard of. You see, when a Lantern dies, his or her ring will seek out the nearest being with the willpower to use it. A Lantern doesn't choose a ring, the ring chooses the Lantern."

"So...the ring chose you?" Arcee asked, looking at Jack. Jack nodded.

"Why?" she asked.

Jack shrugged, "I honestly don't know," he admitted.

"More importantly, what exactly can you guys _do?"_Miko asked, a hint of her enthusiasm returning ever so slightly.

Jack smiled.

"Our rings." he said, holding up his ring hand as he helped his mother back to her feet, she was still sniffling, and her eyes were red from crying, but she'd _mostly _calmed down.

"They can project energy that responds to the wearer's thoughts and impulses. The energy they hold and release is the elemental force of Will Power. It allows us to fly, and make hard-light constructs. Like this."

He then concentrated and the ring on his finger flared bright green, and started emitting a faint, high-pitched noise as bright green light erupted from the carved symbol, and a solid green, translucent rose that that was perfect to scale and looked to be made of emerald materialized, floating eye-level with June, whose eyes widened in shock.

"So how did you guys get back here without a ship?" Bulkhead asked.

Jack grinned, "Easy. We flew. When the situation calls for it, our rings form skin-tight energy fields that act as shields, and fully functional life-support systems. But I'm still learning, I can't make any advanced constructs like giant drilling machines or anything like that, but simple things I can do."

June's eyes narrowed.

_Uh Oh_

Jack _knew _that look.

"Take it off." She ordered, folding her arms.

_Damn..._

"What?" Jack asked, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

"The ring. Off. _Now."_She growled.

"But-" he started.

"**NOW!"** she ordered. Jack realized that now that June had recovered, she was _pissed. _Sighing, he slipped the ring off his finger. He was surrounded by a bright green glow, and then it faded leaving him in his civilian clothes. The latter of which had seen much better days.

June held out her hand expectantly, and Jack reluctantly handed it over. She slipped it into her pocket and _glared _at him.

"After what you put us through after what you put _me _through...Consider yourself _GROUNDED Jackson Robert Darby!"_she growled, almost snarled the last four words, putting _heavy _emphasis on the word 'Grounded', she continued to glare at him.

"_Permanently."_She said through gritted teeth. Arcee had a similar look on her face as she leaned over and looked at him hard.

"And once June is done with you, you and _I _are going to have a good long _chat, _Partner." She said firmly. Jack gulped.

Arisia nervously approached Jack, her eyes darting fearfully to June, "Well I guess you had a point. Your mom would ground you for life once you got back,"

June looked at the Graxonite, her eye's aflame. "'Life'?! Try _Eternity!_"

"A shame." Sinestro said, also sounding oddly amused as he walked up to Jack's left, Jack looked at the Orange-skinned Lantern, and saw the smirk on his face. Clearly, he found this very funny.

"You could have been a fine Lantern one day, but..." he trailed off, his smirk becoming a re-assuring smile as he saw the pleading look in the youth's eyes.

He looked to June, "Miss, Jack has a duty now, being chosen by the ring is a great honor and-"

"I don't care if God himself descended from the heavens and proclaimed Jack the next Messiah!" she screamed at him, "I refuse to let my son be… be… _Drafted _into some sort of alien army!"

For the first time, Jack saw fear in Sinestros eyes, and he actually took a step back. He looked back at Jack, "Perhaps it would be best if we returned to Oa. The Guardians will be wanting my report,"

A green aura surrounded him and he ascended into the air. Arisia looked to Jack, "I hope we see each other again soon Jack…" she said quietly. She too joined Sinestro in the air.

The Torugaran placed a hand on her shoulder and the two shot towards the bases roof. To everyone's shock, they passed seamlessly through the stone as if it weren't there. There was a lot those rings were capable of, Jack realized. More than just making constructs.

"Now," June said, glaring at the Autobots, "I would like to take my son home,"

_Darby Residence…_

The bridge closed behind Jack June and Arcee as the three exited into the garage. Jack would have been happy to be home if it weren't for the fact that he was grounded for almost dying! He found it utterly ridiculous that his mom was grounding him from that. Not to mention from his duties as a Green Lantern.

June noticed the scowl on his face that had started to form, "Jack," she said, her voice softer, "I just don't want to worry about losing you again. When you almost died the last time…" she looked at the floor guiltily.

He sighed, still angry himself, "I'm going to bed," he grumbled, moving to the door.

Right as his hand wrapped around the door handle, he felt the metal of Arcee's servo on his shoulder, "You aren't going anywhere yet Jack," she growled.

"June, can Jack and I have a moment?" she asked.

June nodded and walked to the door. She turned back and hugged Jack shuddering slightly, "I'm so happy you're okay," she murmured. Then she broke the embrace and entered the house leaving Jack and Arcee alone.

The boy looked down at the floor, afraid to meet Arcee's optics. After seeing how angry she was and without his ring… He was afraid to face her. His fist suddenly clenched. He didn't need that ring, it wasn't what made him a leader. Like Ganthet had said, he had the makings of a Lantern even before he'd been chosen.

Jack met Arcee's optics and saw that she seemed to have shimmered down slightly, "Why didn't you ever try to contact us?" she demanded.

"I did," Jack replied, "Multiple times. But like I said, same thing that hid humanity from the Guardians blocked my communications from reaching Earth."

"So why not fly here, tell us you were okay!?"

"I had training, to learn how to use the ring!"

Arcee snorted, "Right, must be so difficult to imagine things into existence," she growled, "Did you even think about what you were putting us through!?"

"Of course I-"

"No, you didn't!" Arcee yelled, "If you had you would have come here immediately to tell us you were alive. Instead you selfishly stayed to learn how to use your ring!"

"No I-"

"Jack Darby, Green Lantern and hero!" she yelled mockingly, "That's what it always was for you wasn't it? Being the big hero!?"

"Arcee-"

"Airachnid, going to Cybertron! All of it just so you could get some enjoyment out of your. Pathetic. Little. LIFE!"

"SHUTUP!" he screamed at her. Arcee recoiled as if bitten, "SHUTUP AND LET ME SPEAK FOR A MINUTE DAMN IT!"

"I stayed on Oa because I was sick and tired of being a burden to you, forcing you to fight to protect me or the others. I stayed so for once none of the Autobots would have to fight to keep one more human safe. So I could _help _you end the war! I never wanted to get involved in your stupid war to begin with! But I figured that since I was, I might as well learn how to help you fight!"

He stopped for a moment, breathing hard. Arcee looked at him utterly stunned, "I thought that coming back alive would make everyone happy, the fact that I found allies and weapons to end the war making everyone happy,"

Jack clenched his fists, "But all that's happened since I got home is that I've been scolded punished and screamed at! Maybe I should have stayed at Oa and let you all think I was dead! Rot for all I care!" without another word he turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him.

He felt a wave of guilt and pain pass over him. He'd said so many hurtful things to Arcee just then. He didn't mean any of them, he was just angry, upset. But after something like that…

Jack stormed through his house and into his room, ignoring his mothers concerned look on her face. He slammed his door behind him sitting on the bed.

"So much for a happy homecoming." he muttered…

**A/N: Damn, what do you guys think of this chapter huh? Let me know in the reviews. And as you all know, this is the last chapter in Will of the Primes for the next few weeks or months. So if you want to read my work, focus on AToA book 2 instead, because no amount of begging will convince me to focus on this. Sorry. Anyway, review with critique and PM me with plot based ideas and questions. Bye!**


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